Don't Write Me Off Just Yet
by YourssTrulyy
Summary: The love story you didn't know about, between Cherry Valence and Dallas Winston.
1. Not Your Stupid, Giddy Girl

"I'm never nice," Cherry recalled Dallas whispering into her ear, as she smirked to herself while having lunch with Marcia.

"What you did, Cherry," Marcia interrupted Cherry's thoughts, "it was the right thing to do. Boy, I'de even dare to say that that Ponyboy Curtis had to be madly crushin' on you." Cherry only nodded, for she was not properly listening at this time.

Cherry couldn't stop pondering about her agreement with Dallas; the proposal to testify in court that Bob and the Soc's were drunk, and therefore would prove that Johnny's actions were only in light of self-defense. Now, she was currently sipping a Coke with Marcia at the park, and she couldn't help but thinking about a certain boy.

"What's on your mind, Cherry?" Marcia asked.

"Huh?" Cherry responded. She looked away to avoid eye contact with the one person who knew exactly when Cherry had been feeling for a boy.

"Tell me!" she giggled. "Nothing's on my mind, Marcia." Cherry calmly stated as she glanced back at Marcia, who wasn't believing a word of what she was saying. "I just can't shake that Dallas Winston off my mind. Can you believe the nerve on that boy? The nerve!" She glanced in the direction of the fountain; the exact location in which Bob had been stabbed.

"After the guy asks over and over to talk, I talk. I give him all I could give, and I did all I could to save Ponyboy." she stood up and walked away from where she sat, and then walked back towards Marcia, directly facing her. "And then what? The guy gets the nerve to offer me a coke? Who is dumb enough to do such a thing like that Marcia?"

"The boy obviously isn't in his right mind, either. Did you see the mean look in his eyes? You know he just got out of jail recently? That's what I heard." Cherry shook her head, arms crossed, and looked back at the fountain. And she began to remember. She remembered Bob, she remembered how he urged her to drink many times, she remembered how much she adored him at one point in her life. She thought of the very moment she had found out that he had been killed. She thought of how she had battled her own thoughts, wondering if he had gotten what he had coming for him, or if what happened was undeserving. Then she thought of Ponyboy, of his sweet voice, of the way he treated her like a lady, the way he almost acted like a Soc himself...with the greaser lifestyle, of course. And then, whether she wanted to or not, she thought of Dallas. She thought of how he reacted to her unexpected appearance at the gas station.

It was the late afternoon, Dallas was out with the boys at the gas station. He had been feeling preoccupied with wondering how Ponyboy and Johnny were doing out at the old church, even though he knew they'd be cool. Dallas knew that the two were smart kids. They may have not been as smart as he was, but he taught them well. He only wished that he could have been with Johnny when the incident happened, otherwise they wouldn't even be caught up in this mess in the first place.

Dallas stood alone, lighting up a cigaret. He had his famous look of carelessness wiped around his face. That was the cool thing about Dallas, the edge that elevated him above other greasers. He looked like he didn't care, mostly because he didn't, but he also possessed a look of empowerment. Something was lit inside the kid, but no one could ever know what; Dallas was never the type to let people in that much.

He looked up from staring at his pockets, and had to look twice, just to notice that Cherry was inching in from yards away.

"Well, look who it is." he inched his chin up with fake pride, teasing the girl with his smirks.

"I'm not here to chat all night, grease. I'm here to discuss some things." she replied with a defiant tone.

"Ow, and she still bites!" he smiled.

He made Cherry want to scream, he made her want to rip her own hair out. That was the way Dallas talked. In order to keep calm, she paused. Standing directly in front of the eighteen-year-old bundle of catcalls, about 2 feet away, she waited with the ounce of patience that she had.

"What's the matter sweetheart," he asked while allowing a long strand of soft smoke exit his mouth and rush toward her small, pale face.

He began to talk more sternly. " Look, if you're gunna come over here with your 'hey grease' and your this and that, you either start talkin' or you get lost. You hearin' me, Red?"

Cherry wanted to respond with a harsh and yet classy comeback. She wanted to give that Dallas Winston a good slap to teach him how a real boy should act towards a woman. She wanted to grab that cigaret and toss it five hundred yards away…But she didn't. She couldn't.

After a long pause, Dallas continued to smoke his cigaret, while Cherry finally decided to take charge.

"Listen, Dal-las. I'm here to help two people, and two people only: Ponyboy and Johnny. Now you could tell them, wherever they may be, that I'm willing to testify in court that Bob and the guys were drunk that night. It might do a little, it might not do much. But Johnny could at least get off for self defense, in my opinion."

"-Woah woah hold on, hold on, hold on," Dallas interrupted, "What is this? You're saying the Soc's were drunk…"

"Yes…"

"You're saying the Soc's were drunk, and you're willing to testify they were drunk that night?"

She nodded. Dallas paused for a quick second, and stared right into Cherry's eyes. He was trying to figure her out.

"What's the catch?" he finally asked with narrow eyes.

Cherry, looking annoyed and puzzled, responded "…I'm sorry?"

Dallas looked her up and down with his smart-ass smirk and his cigaret in hand. "What, you want like a uh…A date or something? You want money?"

Cherry patted down her skirt nervously. She didn't want any trouble with this kid and, though hard to admit to herself, she was a bit scared of Dallas; The Dallas Winston that was involved with gangs back in New York.

"I want this to be the end of our conversation." She tilted her head slightly, then smiled. Dallas smiled back, he liked the fire in her. He wasn't used to rejection, although he still carried the thought in the back of his mind that she still wanted him. Cherry turned away and headed back out to her car, before any of the Soc's would see her socializing with any greaser. Not that any Soc would be found in this area at this hour, anyway.

As Cherry walked away, she felt someone grab her arm and turn her around. Once she was whipped back around, it was discovered to be Dallas, still smiling and recovering from Cherry's last remark. He then murmured, "Hey, excuse me miss. I don't know what team you're playing on," he let go of her arm and took a step closer to her. His chin was at about her nose level at this point, and with his hand he touched her chin. He did not grab it, he only held it and stroked it lightly as he continued and murmured "Thanks." Cherry used every power within her little body to not smile while Dallas touched her. This was the first time she hadn't minded him being so close, and it made her question why she was even doing this. Was it to just help Ponyboy and Johnny? Or was it also to give Dallas a second chance?

She couldn't allow herself to be like the other girls, the others who would give anything to have Dallas' attention for only a second.

"Just give the boys my regards. I'll see you later" she said.

"Hey Red, you don't gotta go home now. What do you say I drive you to the Dingo, I'll buy you a coke."

Cherry thought for one split second that Dallas was a gentleman. For one split second, as she was turned away from him to leave, she wanted to run away with him and let him buy her that coke. She wanted to forget about everything, just for only a second. Then she looked back, and saw the way he lit another cigaret, the way he looked around like nothing mattered, like she was just another girl to score, like this would only be a favor for a favor. This made her upset, and it made her feel like she almost went for that whole "stupid giddy girl" stunt. So she blurted out exactly what she thought, and what she wanted Dallas to do since the very first moment they had met,

"Go to hell, Dallas." and she left.

And that was the end of it. Cherry walked back up the hill that Dallas saw her walking down only a few minutes ago, leaving Dallas thinking.

"Crazy broad," he muttered to himself, and walked to his car. Once again, the red head leaves the boy alone and confused.


	2. Tough Enough

By the next day, Cherry had forced herself to completely discard of any feelings for Dallas Winston whatsoever, good or bad. She knew that thinking of a guy like Dallas was a waste of time, especially since she knew Dallas wouldn't take a second out of his day to talk to her voluntarily.

Meanwhile, Cherry was spending her day babysitting for a family friend's two kids. She loved them, for she'd been watching over them for a few years now, but every now and then she'd become very antsy due to their lack of ability to stay amused while at home. Finally having enough of the unbearable screams and shouts inside the house, she agreed to take them out. She called up Marcia to keep her entertained while they all went out for playing time.

At this time it was about 5:30, late afternoon, but it was fairly light out for such an hour. A smile had finally grown upon Cherry's face when she saw Marcia walking towards her and the kids from the distance. She waved her over.

"How much longer are you gunna be watching these kids?" Marcia asked.

Cherry looked back at the two, chasing each other around with their obliviousness. "About fifteen minutes. They just wanted to go out for a little bit, I thought I'de be generous for once." They both laughed.

As minutes passed, Cherry and Marcia drove the kids back home, and continued to drive back towards where they came from. Then out of nowhere, Marcia pleaded, "Did you wanna go visit the boys?" Cherry continued driving, while remaining puzzled.

"Who do you mean?...Ponyboy and Johnny?" she asked.

"No, I mean, the other boys. Like...-"

"-Like Two-Bit?" Cherry asked with a smile. She knew Marcia had a little thing for that boy. Marcia always fell for the guys with jokes.

Marcia giggled when she heard this. She nodded. Cherry added, "Sure, sure. And do you know where these 'boys' are? Or should I say do you know where this Two-Bit is?"

She nodded once again, "Yes. He told me he'd be at the walk way by the Dingo. The one next to the parking lot and the street corner?"

Cherry, holding a grin on her face, sighed in surrender as she began to drive towards Two-Bit's location. Marcia continued to look out the window with a glow and a grin.

The day began to lose its light as the girls parked the car in the lot. Cherry and Marcia stepped out, Marcia of course was all smiles, while Cherry acted as the hawk, searching the night with her eyes, wondering where Two-Bit was, and who else was in sight. They both saw Two-Bit in the distance waving them over, while they could hear his loud cackle at the same time. Also visible, was a group of about four to five guys behind him. They were obviously all greasers, as the girls presumed, and they were correct.

The closer the girls got, however, the more Cherry's stomach turned; Dallas was in the group. And there he stood, leaning up against the eight-foot gate smoking his signature cigaret, cackling his short and sweet laugh with the guys. Marcia looked at Cherry with her "oh no" face. Cherry knew how much Two-Bit secretly meant to Marcia, so she nodded in approval, and gave the 'okay' for Marcia to make her move. Cherry wasn't afraid of no greaser. She could manage. Could she?

"Well, if it isn't the two most beautiful girls on the planet!" exclaimed Two-Bit. He cut in the middle of the two, as he wrapped his arms around both Cherry and Marcia. He leaned into Marcia's ear and said, "And how are YOUUUU, sweet thing?" which made Marcia want to scream and laugh with excitement. Cherry broke off the love chain and walked towards the car slowly. She suddenly felt a low, raspy voice that sounded awfully close, like it was coming from right behind her. "Hey, ginger. Wanna come with us?"

Already deeply offended, she turned around only to see a greaser she had neither met nor seen before. She gave give a long, hard look that clearly he had never been used to seeing. "Hey, relax! I'm just tryin' to be polite and all! Come on, come on over here. How 'bout I get to know you a little better, yeah?"

His hand pulled her closer towards him, leaving them chest to chest. She immediately pulled back, "Get your hands off of me."

"Hey, hey, hey..." he pulled in closer, "What's the matter? It's 'cause you're lonely tonight, huh? Your friend's having some fun, you don't have to be lonely tonight sweetheart," he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in harder, with a more aggressive movement.

Cherry could no longer handle this. Maybe with Dallas it wasn't as bad, because at least he had some respect, and looks. This greaser was all grease, and nothing but grease. She finally blew up.

"I told you to get, your hands, OFF of me!" She pushed him back, causing him to spill the drink he was holding.

"Look, ginger, nobody touches me like that unless it's in bed you understand? I-" he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her in closer, moving in like he was about to kiss her. Cherry was fuming, and she pushed and kicked and did whatever she could to get the message out.

All of a sudden, she heard another voice from the group, "Ay, wise ass, don't touch her"

The greaser stopped harassing Cherry to look over at him; it was Dallas.

"Dally, don't waste your time," the greaser spoke towards him. Then he continued to mutter, "Dumb broad's not worth the fight.."

Dallas saw how frazzled Cherry looked, and then he turned towards his fellow greaser, all within one second, and punched him. Right in the face.

"What the hell, Dally?"he asked while clenching his jaw, walking away.

"Don't fucking touch her" he snapped right back. Cherry couldn't help but smile only slightly. Although she had always hated fights, that was just something she had never thought she'd see before. Dallas Winston defending Cherry? She couldn't help but feel that this was nothing short of ironic; Dallas had just been treating her like that greaser did only a few days ago, and the only person she had to defend herself, was herself.

Dallas didn't walk closer to her, he knew she was in an upset mood. Instead, he continued to stand about two feet away from her, looking at her, looking at her petite body frame but also seeing her anger coming out like light through her eyes. He stared at her, and then continued to whip out his lighter and relight his cigaret. "Sorry about that." he finally said, calmly. Cherry didn't really know what to say. She was flattered. And she hated it, too. He continued on, "See around here Red, I'm the gentleman."

Cherry smiled, and she tried to hide it before Dallas could look up and see. But it was too late, he already noticed her grinning from ear to ear. Dallas blew out smoke and looked at Cherry. He never really saw her smile like that before. A genuine smile. _Man, this broad's confusing, _he thought. Dallas always thought he could read girls like a book. He manipulated, because love was ruined for him. But Cherry, Cherry was a hard girl to read. And he liked that, except it only made it harder for him.

"Thank you," Cherry finally spoke, "I guess you are." Dallas threw back a small grin, and then looked back at the guys.

"So, are you going to leave your friend here or what?" he asked.

"What? Oh, yeah. She wanted to visit Two-Bit. I drove my car here, so I'll be on my way home."

"Oh," Dallas paused and looked at the ground, "Well I guess drive safely, Red."

Cherry nodded, and turned to walk towards the car. As she walked, she started realizing that he didn't really want the night to end just yet. She wanted more.

Dallas didn't even budge once Cherry walked towards her car. He only stood there, watching her walk. He really liked the way she kept herself inside, like she didn't really need to prove anything. She was just...Cherry Valence. The girl that everybody loved. _Not me, though, _he thought. Dallas would never love anybody for as long as he lived.

After thinking about it, Cherry stopped in her place and turned around, towards Dallas.

"Dallas?" she projected slightly.

Dallas raised his eye brows with an unexpected, "Yeah?"

"Would you like to buy me a Coke?"

This drew a big smile on Dallas' face. "Yeah, you're tough enough Red."


	3. Funny Thing About Names

_ Tough enough, _Cherry thought to herself. Dallas said she was tough enough. What does that even mean? Or was that just him being cute? No, Dallas doesn't play cute, and he would never play games like that.

Cherry's nerves calmed down, and she waited as Dallas casually walked towards her. He swung his arm around her hip and continued walking, almost as if he were on his own path, snagging her along the way. He continued to smirk, and Cherry's eyes sneakily roamed Dallas up and down the side of his jacket as they walked hip to hip; his brown, heavy jacket that hung so recklessly upon himself. Cherry took a moment to stop overlooking the beautiful side profile view that she obtained while walking side by side with Dallas Winston, and she suddenly realized how fast she was moving. Not physically fast, like how she was walking, but more of how she began to think when with Dallas. Her thoughts, wandering like a fool's mind. _I'm a fool, I'm such a fool, _Cherry thought. She remained calm, looked straight ahead, and thought nothing.

Dallas and Cherry finally made it to the Dingo. At this point, it was about as dark as night outside. Dallas' hand, with his arm still implanted on Cherry's hip, slowly moved up as he reached for the entrance door. "Loosen up," he muttered towards her as he took another drag of his cigaret, while simultaneously squeezing her shoulder in a massaging-like motion. He began to chuckle lightly while walking in.

Cherry entered the Dingo right behind Dallas; he did not hold the door open for her. With her arms folded, she slowly walked in only inches behind him, keeping an eye out for Soc's. "Ay, Dallas fucking Winston," a man said at the corner booth. Dallas turned around to look, only to see it was a long-time friend that he hadn't seen in months.

"Unbelievable, man.." Dallas muttered with a smile while shaking his head, as he began walking over and completely ignoring Cherry's existence. This was the second time tonight that Cherry had been placed in an awkward third-wheel situation. Marcia ran off with her lover Two-Bit, and now Dallas was running off to his long-lost lover, whatever his name was. Cherry had never been used to this. Usually Cherry was the one who knew everyone surrounding her; after all, she was a fellow cheerleader at her school. She was Cherry Valence, the Soc girl, the beautiful girl; the girl who was tough enough. But not in this part of town.

Annoyed and, for some strange reason, nervously she slowly walked up to stand beside Dallas as he talked to his buddy at the booth. When Dallas saw his friend start eyeing Cherry mid-conversation, he jumped. "Oh, pardon me are my manners?" he smiled and looked back and fourth between Cherry and the man he was talking to.

"I'm Cherry," she reluctantly said to the man.

"Harvey. A real pleasure to meet you miss!" the man held out his hand. Cherry unfolded her arms and shook it.

Dallas began to slowly back away from the table, "Alright, look it's good to see you man."

Harvey nodded, "Great seein' you too." Dallas started to turn around as Cherry was finding her seat at another booth.

"Hey, Dally," Harvey added. Dallas turned back around.

"Looks like you spotted a nice one this time 'round." he smiled.

Dallas raised an eyebrow, not so much in his smart-ass attitude, more in a puzzled attitude. He muttered, "Yeah, yeah...See you later now."

Cherry finally sat down, and Dallas made his way over to her booth. As he sat across from her, he watched her eyes wander the restaurant, keeping watch of who walked in and out of the entrance. Dallas knew what was going on. He may have not been able to always read her like a book, but fear; Dallas always sensed fear. He could read the fear off Cherry's face like a picture book.

"What's wrong?" he asked. He began to exaggerate, looking up and down and around the corners of the booth as if he were keeping an eye out just as Cherry was doing.

"Too obvious? Maybe it's because I'm the only guy in here who's not wearing a sweater vest." he stated, pretending to act serious.

Cherry laughed, mostly because it was true. She turned to glance at a couple of guys with fresh white sweaters on, and then turned towards Dallas, "Sort of. To be truly honest though, I'm not into sweater vests," she giggled.

Dallas bit his lip just before he placed his arms on the table between them. He looked Cherry right in the eyes and said,

"Alright, Red. What are you into?"

Cherry paused to think about this. "I guess I don't really know."

"Nah, you know." he responded. This confused Cherry a bit.

Dallas bought Cherry her Coke. He didn't order anything, he just sat there, watching Cherry. As she sipped her drink, he couldn't help but notice the fear that remained in her eyes. What was she so afraid of? After all, she's the one that asked to come here in the first place.

But at the same time, he sort of enjoyed it. Dallas always craved dominance over others. Even though Cherry had a tough interior, she had just the right amount he wanted; nothing too heavy, but logical. She was smart. And she knew what she wanted. But he saw the way her hands were constantly doing something. He saw the look on her face changing every time their eyes met. Why was she afraid? Finally, he broke the silence. "You're a crazy broad, you know that?" Cherry stopped sipping her drink. _What's that supposed to mean? _she wondered. No matter how many times Cherry could make herself believe that Dallas was somewhat of a gentleman, he always came back with something ridiculously absurd to say. And one thing that separated Cherry from the rest was that she never took any of this type of talk from anyone, no matter how charming they may seem, or want to seem.

"Hey, don't call me 'broad.' I have a name. I call you Dallas, I don't call you grease." she snapped.

"Look, all I'm sayin' is that I don't get you. You hate my guts, and then you don't-"

"-Well maybe I like you."

Cherry immediately regretted saying this. Dallas smirked, and after a long pause, as Cherry used every muscle in her body to focus her attention completely on her hands, Dallas reached over and touched her forearm.

"You're crazy, Cherry. You know that?" he said.

_He said my name,_ this was the first thought that came to Cherry's mind. She had never heard Dallas say her name before. It was always a switch back and fourth: Red, broad, Red, broad, "Hey broad," "Look, Red". But the way he said it; the way he said Cherry.

It blew her mind.

"Well, suppose I am crazy. That must make you crazy too." she sassed back.

"Oh yeah?" Dallas smiled. At this point, Cherry began to stand up and slowly walk out of the booth, hinting that the night was coming to an end. Dallas quickly scooted out of his seat and stood up right as Cherry attempted to pass him by. He stood, almost hovering over her, about six inches away. He spoke softer, "And how come?"

Cherry was back in her game, she began to talk like her natural, confident self again. "Well you'd have to be mad if you're dealing with a crazy girl like me."

Dallas lightly brushed his tongue against his lips, he wasn't prepared for Cherry to talk back to him like that. In fact, he never really expected her to ever talk to him like that. She walked right past him, and out the door. He followed closely behind.

Cherry felt like her head was spinning; she couldn't quite wrap her mind around the idea that she just flirted with Dallas Winston. She specifically made herself a promise not to do so. But was it really much of a big deal? Flirting is flirting, it happens every day. It is meaningless. She continued to walk, knowing that at some point she'd have to turn around to face him again in order to say goodbye.

She had just started to finally make visual contact of her car in the distance, under the street lamp about seven yards away. Then, his voice unexpectedly shot out of the empty air, "Ay, I'm not done with you yet," he softly spoke as he grabbed her by the arm and turned her around. Seeing him under the light, Cherry felt different. _Who is this boy?_ she thought. Dallas looked so mean, but he had so much charm. The way he looked at Cherry gave her this unusual feeling; it was the feeling of protection and danger overlapping each other as one. For some odd reason Dallas gave her a reason to feel uncomfortable and afraid, but he also gave her a reason to feel safe again. She felt at home. Whether it meant she finally felt happiness after days of grieving over Bob, or if it was just a moment of weakness; Cherry felt something. A strange idea began to grow inside of her: the idea that she no longer wanted to prevent these feelings.

_I'm not going to kiss you, _Cherry thought. But Cherry was so caught off guard from Dallas touching her, she was almost convinced that she had said this aloud to him. She grew tense. She could heard him breathe, and it made her wonder if he could hear her, too. So calm and casual, Dallas finally spoke up. "What's the matter with you, huh?" Still keeping a grip on her, he allowed his fingers to stroke her arms.

"Are you cold?" he asked. Cherry, slightly startled on what to say, shook her head 'no.' There was a pause for about ten whole seconds. The night turned so quiet, so dark and dim, so frail. During the pause, Dallas looked at Cherry up and down, and he felt her familiar tenseness reoccurring. Cherry tried to take her mind off of what was happening. She thought of Marcia, she thought of what she could have been doing right at this moment. She tried to think of the stories she'd be hearing from her tomorrow, all about how Two-Bit said the funniest things, or how she fell in love.

Finally, Dallas asked, "...Are you scared?"

Cherry nodded.

She didn't know why she nodded. Normally she never let anyone grab hold of her feelings like that, especially if it meant that her fear would become exposed. "I mean, no," Cherry responded, "I mean, I'm not sure. I just don't move this fast very often. And you're..."

Cherry finally gathered up the courage to look him in the eyes. She was surprised to see that Dallas wasn't smirking, or looking at her funny, or anything at all. He just listened. With his arm around her, the same orderly fashion as when they entered the Dingo, they both walked side by side to Cherry's car. "You're just you. And that, alone, is a whole different concept to me that takes some getting used to."she explained.

Dallas already knew that Cherry thought this. But the truth was, Dallas already knew he had been falling for Cherry ever since that night at the drive-in. He knew, not only because he'd normally never put up with any other girl who spoke like she did to him, but also because he had to actually make an effort to hide his feelings in front of her. He wanted to tell her not to be scared, but he didn't. He wanted to smile at her, but he didn't. He wished that she didn't drive her stupid car over here, that way he would have been able to take her home.

"Look, Red, you should probably get home. You're makin' me nervous with you talkin' like that."

Cherry laughed, an nodded in agreement. Who was she kidding, she and Dallas both knew that this would never work out.

After about five seconds of silence, she continued to open her car door and place her purse on the floor below her seat. She turned around once more and, with her hard and yet petite voice, said "Thanks, Dally."

And just like that, Dallas lost it.

Just before she leaned into her car to sit down, Dallas grabbed her and leaned towards her. As he leaned in, with Cherry's back pressed against her car and Dallas' waist pressed against hers, he kissed her.

But the way he kissed, it was unordinary. With his hand pressed against her back, cradling her into position, he pressed his lips gently onto hers; allowing his face to lean inward, fitting into hers like a puzzle. When he felt her becoming tense, he let her breathe in between kisses. He felt his fingers stroking Cherry's soft, red curls. Cherry couldn't even stop once he had started. She couldn't even think, she just felt. She felt Dallas being gentle, and she loved that. She loved the idea that she was the one thing that Dallas couldn't hurt.

After his last kiss, he placed his hands onto her car, one on each side of Cherry, and leaned in towards her ear.

After a short pause, he backed away and looked at her. Cherry smiled, and without neither of them saying a word, she stepped into her car and shut the door. As she rolled down her window, Dallas casually leaned over to rest his arms on the the window's edge.

"So will I be seein' you around anytime soon?" he asked.

As Cherry started up the car, she asked, "What are you doing Saturday?"

Still leaned over, Dallas grew a small grin. He bit his lip and shrugged, "Whatever you're doin' I guess."

Cherry smiled. "Marcia was thinking of asking Two-Bit to come out on Saturday, if you wanted to tag along."

Dallas began to light up a cigaret. "Only if that means you'll be tagging along, sweetheart."

She laughed, "We'll probably be meeting at Westford, so make sure to come along, got it?"

He nodded, and Cherry went on her way.

As Dallas walked towards the other lot to pick up his car, he began to think. _Jesus Christ, I've gone soft. _Dallas hated the idea of going soft on people. That's not how he was raised, and that's not how he ever wanted to be raised. The thing that confused him most, was what made him pounce on the poor girl like he did. Was it her voice? Was it the way she said "Dally?" And that was it; Dallas figured it out. It wasn't like Cherry to call Dallas Winston by his nickname. Perhaps it was the idea of her loosening up to him that made him lose his mind.

That's the funny thing about names. A name could mean so much, or so little. Cherry nearly lost it once Dallas finally had the manners to call her by her full nickname. He stepped out of his comfort zone. Dallas completely lost it once Cherry gave into his nickname. So was it necessarily the names that caused the released tension between the two? Or was it merely the idea of opposites mingling with one another's lifestyles?


	4. Dallas is Short Tempered

Dallas was on his way over to check up on the boys, Ponyboy and Johnny. As he approached the old church, he kept a close eye making sure that no one else was around to snitch. _What a fucking mess_, Dallas thought to himself as he stepped out of his car and walked toward the church. Dallas was always up for helping the two out, but he really never thought he'd ever be in a murder rap since New York.

He peeked through the cracked walls, then through a tiny sliver, only to see that there was nothing. He walked around further, then peeked again. No sign of them. But finally, as he made his way around the front, he spotted an entrance, which led him into a room filled with paper bags, salami, and of course, the two runaways. Dallas tip toed around the bags and stopped just as he began to hover over Ponyboy. With a smirk, he reached over and ran his fingers through his freshly-blonde hair. Dallas began to chuckle, "Hey, blondie!"

Ponyboy's eyes began to open, and Johnny slowly started to wake at the sound of a stranger's voice.

"Dally!" they both said with their eyes half open. Dallas walked over and made his way to a raggedy chair, covered in dust and crumpled scrapings from the wall behind it. He sat on the arm, and began to light a cigaret. Johnny quickly sat up and asked, "Hey Dal, are the cops still looking for us? Is the word out? How are the guys?"

"Ay, ay, one at a time alright?" Dallas interrupted. He got up and started pacing, as if he were in a rush, then stopped between the two.

"Hey, you guys wanna go get a bite to eat? I'm starved."

Meanwhile, Cherry was having a late lunch at a small hamburger joint with Marcia. She could tell that something happened, because Marcia had a certain glow to her, and it certainly showed when she told her stories about Two Bit.

"So is Dallas coming tonight?" Marcia asked. Cherry hadn't spoken to Dallas since their little date on Thursday. Was it even a date? _Well, we did kiss, _she thought to herself while contemplating. But Cherry had figured that Dallas probably kissed girls all of the time. He probably wouldn't even know what a date was.

"Yes, I think. Well, I invited him."

"Well I hope he does. It'd be real fun for all of us. Two-Bit has the greatest stories about that Dallas boy."

Cherry laughed, "Yeah, yeah I'm sure he does." Marcia and Cherry finished up the last sips of their drinks and walked over towards Cherry's car. As Cherry sat in the driver's seat, she suddenly felt this weird feeling. It was almost as if she felt tingly, nervous, just like she had right after Dallas had kissed her. And that was exactly it, it was the same feeling she had once she sat in her car the moment after this had happened. Cherry surprisingly loved this feeling, and it made her grin. "What?" Marcia asked as she caught her reminiscing. Cherry laughed, because she didn't think that Marcia would even see her. For some reason she thought she was alone. She looked back towards Marcia, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, all smiles.

"Nothing," Cherry responded, "I'm just really excited for tonight."

The three guys rode up in Dallas' car down the road until they reached the nearest drive-through. All three of them ordered the fattest burgers on the menu, and began to chow down in the parking lot proceeding the drive through. With his mouth full, Dallas told Ponyboy and Johnny all about Cherry's proposition. Ponyboy's eyes lit up in surprise, "Really?" he asked.

"Dal, that's great! We can head on back, I'll confess, the deal's done." Johnny replied. Dallas narrowed his eyes in astonishment and stared at Johnny like he was a mad man. "I, I'm sorry...what?" he exaggerated as he placed his hand behind his ear to hear him more clearly.

"Well just like you said, it was self defense, right? They can't can me for murder now can they?"

Dallas just sat there and began to look straight ahead of him. There was a long pause as Ponyboy and Johnny continued eating while Dallas tried his hardest to hold back the anger burrowed up in him. He tried, but he couldn't.

"Listen you little shit," he snapped, "I get you a hideout. A fucking hideout, man." he continued staring straight forward. Johnny and Ponyboy weren't very surprise of Dallas' reaction, however, they continued to listen.

"I don't think you get it, Johnny. You get mean in jail, Johnny." he started up the car, and began to drive.

As he pulled out of the parking lot, he began to head out on the road, speeding at about sixty miles an hour.

"I just don't wanna see you get mean in their, man. It happened to me, it can't happen to you. See, that's why you gotta act smart, man. You guys are so fuckin'...You guys are so fucking inexperienced it's insane. And I'm trying to help out. But you gotta do as I say." Dallas couldn't even think straight. That's just the way he was, even if things weren't much of a big deal, it was a big deal to him. Once Dallas got mean, he was mean the whole way through. The fact that Johnny wanted to completely disobey him like that wasn't settling with him at all.

Dallas finally drove towards Ponyboy's house, but Ponyboy told him he'd walk from there. He brought Johnny along with him, too.

"So that's it, then?" Dallas said through his teeth. Johnny nodded. He knew Dallas would be upset, but the truth was, nobody was going to make him change his mind, and that was it. Dallas realized this, and drove off, leaving the two walking side by side towards the park.

Dallas tried to shake this off his mind, but he couldn't. _He'll be wishing he listened, _Dallas thought to himself, _That little shit should have listened. _

It was Saturday night, about 8:10. Dallas drove into Westford, just as Cherry said where she'd be. Westford was the name of a local drive-in. Yes, he was already ten minutes late, but he didn't think much of it only because he was upset, and he knew he had good reasoning for be late. He nearly forgot about the whole plan because of how upset he was. He started up the car after having it parked for about ten minutes, lit up another cigaret, and drove towards the open gate. Then he finally saw the three standing there, right by the beverages and snack bar. He saw Cherry, looking annoyed and impatient. He parked his car, and walked towards them. "Ay, Dally!" Two-Bit greeted him with a big pat on the back. "You came just in time! Your girl over here was just startin' to feel a bit lonesome up in here!" Dallas couldn't really say much, he was slightly annoyed. Instead he just flashed a tensely closed smile, and a nod towards Cherry. _Great, _Cherry thought, _I guess it was a one-time thing. _

Cherry expected a lot more. She expected Dallas to show up, on time. She expected him to greet her with a kiss, or at least a hug. She expected him to mess around with Two-Bit, maybe have a few laughs all together. She expected him to say hi to Marcia, and for Marcia to like him and send Cherry a nod of approval. Cherry didn't like to keep high expectations, especially for someone like Dallas Winston. She should have known better, and now, she had learned her lesson.

Dallas looked at Cherry, and he could see how disappointed she was. He started to cool down a bit, but he wasn't very comfortable knowing he'd have to sit through a whole movie feeling like this. Two-Bit noticed that the movie was about to start, so he wrapped his arm around Marcia and said, "Too-da-loo you two! Have fun!"

Cherry watched the two turn into silhouettes as they disappeared into the lot of cars. Then she looked to her left, where she saw Dallas, who was also watching Marcia and Two-Bit walk away. "Where'd you just come from?" Cherry asked him, implying that he should have to explain himself for being late. Dallas simply answered with attitude, "My car. C'mon, let's go." He reached around her and walked her over to his vehicle.

Cherry couldn't help but feel as if Dallas had gone back to normal, back to not knowing that Cherry had existed. As they walked to Dallas' car, she kept telling herself, non verbally of course, that she was making a mistake. Cherry didn't want to be one of those girls who gets tossed around, then thrown aside. She wanted to be _the_ girl, not _a_ girl. Dallas walked over to his door, completely disregarding Cherry's still-closed door. Cherry felt annoyed of this, and it wasn't the first time that he had completely failed to show some sort of sense for manners. Although she found it awfully puzzling wondering why Dallas hates showing respect towards everyone, she also found it somewhat attractive. When not taken to far, Dallas' ignorance toward a few manners sort of made Cherry excited. She was not used to having to fight for guys, or fight to get deeper. She often had them begging for her instead.

She sat in the passenger's seat, Dallas sat in his, and the two continued to sit in silence.

As the movie began to start, Dallas casually placed his arm around Cherry's shoulder. Cherry still wasn't very used to Dallas' touch, and the weight of his hand on her shoulders gave her chills. Dallas wanted put a move on Cherry tonight, he knew that Cherry had obviously wanted more, especially if she had asked him out here in the first place after what happened. He needed a good ending to the terrible day that he had been experiencing, since Ponyboy and Johnny were the ones who had rattled his temper.

"Is something bothering you?" Cherry suddenly asked. Dallas turned towards her and responded with an irked tone, "It wouldn't make much a difference if I told you, sweetheart." Cherry couldn't help but notice that Dallas looked somewhat hurt, or maybe annoyed. For some strange reason, however, she could not stop looking at him. His face, the way he carried himself, the way he sat in that seat, the way his hand felt; it all felt new to her. To stop herself, Cherry looked directly in the opposite direction. She gazed out the window, up at the moon. Dallas noticed her staring towards the outside. With a smirk, he snapped, "Ay, d'you come to see a movie, or to look at the moon?"

Cherry turned her head back to its normal position, watching the movie. Only she knew, however, that she still wasn't watching the movie. She stared straightly into the screen in front of her, eyes blurred, only thinking of what Dallas' words might be.

"Look at me," she heard him say. She looked up at him. He had this peculiar look on his face, a curious one. His eyebrows were tilted downward, and they made him look awfully confused.

"You're nervous," he said with a slight smile.

Cherry laughed, "I am not." She didn't want to be a nervous wreck anymore. It was time for her to take control of the situation. She turned towards him, took her hand, and placed it onto Dallas' chest. And with all the confidence she had within her, she leaned into him and brushed her lips onto his. Dallas accepted her with open arms, and he began to kiss her right back. Cherry had noticed that his kisses were less gentle tonight than they had been before. He began to open his mouth, and Cherry let him in. He leaned in towards her even more, until he finally laid her down below him. Cherry felt so small as Dallas hovered over her like a dark shadow. His kisses grew harder, and they began to rattle Cherry slightly. He worked his way down to her neck and then the kisses were back to being gentle. She could feel him breathing right below her chin, on her left side. While her mouth was free, she spoke, "Tell me what's bothering you, Dally"

He stopped. His mouth still pressed against her neck, he mumbled, "What do you mean?"

"You're acting different. Tell me what it is that's bothering you."

"Uh, well, nothing really. Just some shit I gotta work out with Ponyboy and Johnny," he said as he lifted up his neck.

He continued to kiss her neck, but more roughly, when suddenly Cherry again spoke, "Why do you need to work things out with Ponyboy and Johnny?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" Dallas responded, lifting up his neck as if he were tired, and then proceeded to lower it once again, lips brushing behind her ear.

"What, am I not allowed to talk and converse with you?" Cherry replied back.

"You gotta loosen up, Red, and quit it with these damn questions."

Cherry rolled her eyes, "Only if you can quit telling me to loosen up. I don't like taking orders."

"Jesus, what do you want?" he exclaimed as he sat up.

Cherry almost felt stupid. She knew she was asking too many questions, but she didn't like the fact that they were mainly here to kiss and touch. She wanted to at least be able to talk to whoever she handed over her trust to.

"Maybe I don't wanna answer your little questions about Ponyboy and Johnny because I'm trying to make my day a little bit better, is that too much to ask?" he finally said.

"What, so you come here thinking you're gunna make your day better? How? By scorin' some girl, then heading on home? Is that why you're acting so careless?"

Cherry was furious. She hated liking someone that was bound to hurt her so much. Although she had spent days convincing herself that this would happen, she could not hold back the hope that had rested in the back of her mind.

"Jesus Christ Red, are you for real with me now?" he pulled back, and then paused for a minute.

"Just come here baby," he grabbed her and kissed her on the lips, again, only to find Cherry pushing him back, moaning.

"Get lost, Dally. I knew I shouldn't have even let this happen."

Cherry just sat there, continuing to look up at the moon as she was doing before. Dallas angrily stared at her. "Get lost? Enough of this. You get lost! Get the hell out of my car!"

Cherry muttered "Jerk," to herself and got out of his car, then slammed the door. With the window remaining open, Dallas yelled, "Yeah get outta here, you make my stomach sick! Crazy fucking broad!"

Cherry, who was on the verge of tears, turned around. With a broken voice she yelled, "Go to hell!"

Dallas couldn't even think straight. He took out another cigaret and began to light it. "Fuck." he said to himself.

Suddenly, the pressure all went to his head. The anger from Johnny's disobedience towards him earlier that day, the tension from wanting Cherry so badly, the anger of hearing her telling him to get lost, everything, all to his head. Dallas punched the side wall of his car, until his knuckles began to turn red. He inhaled deeply, and everything started to make him more upset. He hated way the movie looked in front of him, he hated seeing other couples in their stupid little cars nearby, he hated the sound of some girl laughing, he hated the light of the moon. The moon. Dallas looked up at the sky, and then at the moon, just as Cherry was doing before. For some reason, Dallas began to feel regret when he stared up at that moon. _Cherry probably loved the moon, _Dallas thought, _it's so pretty. No wonder she couldn't take her eyes off it. _

And suddenly, Dallas grew more upset. He hated Cherry. Cherry made things so complicated, she made things so overanalyzed. He hated the way she made him feel. But, what exactly did she do wrong? Dallas replayed the entire scene over within his head. _"Tell me what's bothering you, Dally" _Dallas heard. Was that all? Was that what started this whole thing? _Has anyone even asked me that before ever? _Dallas thought further. He began pulling out of the drive-in. Once he left, he turned down the corner and saw a second chance.

A little further down the hill was a young red-head, storming down the street in her small skirt and long sleeve, with her purse in hand. Dallas hated even seeing the sight of her, it just made him sick. He pulled over.

"Hey, Red, can you talk for a second?"

*Much, much more to come. Please continue to review, thanks so much!


	5. Breaking Boundaries

Cherry continued walking down the sidewalk, praying to God that he would just leave her alone and drive off.

As always, Dallas didn't give Cherry what she wanted. He continued to drive next to her, waiting for a response.

"Will you please just talk for a minute?" he snapped.

Cherry quickly whipped her head around to shoot Dallas a look, "So now it wants to talk?" she yelled. Dallas hated the way her tone was, and if it were anyone else, male or female, he would have been pounding their face in at this very moment. But not Cherry, he hated her too much; he liked her too much. Becoming annoyed with having to drive at a steady pace, Dallas parked his car where it sat. He got out and started walking down the hill to catch up to her.

"Hey, will you quit runnin' off?" he snapped again. At this point, he made it side by side with her, although she was still walking at a fast pace, eyes looking straight ahead. Her eyes had anger running all the way through them. Cherry finally gave in and stopped in her tracks.

She still continued to look straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact with the rude greaser whom she, at one point, thought was capable of respecting others once in a while.

"Talk." she said.

"Listen, sweetheart, I really don't get why you've been hating my guts" he said calmly, as if she were the only one upset.

"I don't think it'll make much of a difference if I told you," she mocked, "..._sweetheart_."

Dallas hated going soft on people, because it was something he never did, ever. In fact, Cherry was probably the single person he had ever acted this way with.

"Look, Cherry," he finally said, which caught Cherry's attention only because she still was not used to hearing her name coming from Dallas' mouth. "I don't apologize for nobody. You got that? Ever since I was young, and ever since now, I don't do it. Now if you go and expect me to change into this wise guy Soc with a mouth full of compliments and this n' that, then forget about it."

Cherry took about a minute to breathe and think about what Dallas had just said. Finally, she looked up at him and spoke.

"Dallas, I never wanted you to be someone you weren't. I just now know that we never could, and never will, be us together."

Hearing this caused Dallas to feel awfully strange, and he wasn't sure why. Not only was he upset, but he was also somewhat disappointed. He didn't like when things felt unfamiliar, and that was just what was happening right about now.

Meanwhile, Cherry had suddenly realized something that she hadn't noticed beforehand; Dallas was trying. Even though he may speak with a tone, stand with a sense of carelessness, and give off the notion that he's annoyed... he's still there. It would not be normal for a guy like Dallas to chase down a girl who had just talked back to him in his own car; it was no way near Dallas' right mind to stop and talk to Cherry like this.

With this in sight, Cherry continued speaking.

"You know, it's really too bad. I know what it's like to hide behind a reputation, too, you know."

"And what the hell's that supposed to mean?" Dallas replied, defensively.

Cherry didn't respond. She could already tell that things would only get worse if she continued.

"And how come you didn't bring a coat? You're an insane broad. It's freezing out. The very least you can do is sit in the car and talk to me." he told her.

Cherry shook her head, "I'm not going into any car with you."

Dallas sighed in annoyance as he began to take off his own coat. He walked towards Cherry and wrapped it around her, then backed a few steps away. Cherry looked at the ground, and continued to stare off as she held on to the warm jacket that was now attached to her. Even though she was managing to hide every emotion she felt at this time, the warmth did make her feel a lot better.

Cherry had nothing else to say at this point. She didn't understand Dallas, he was split into two different personalities. How could she know which one to expect when talking to him? Dallas was starting to feel annoyed. He began to look around, hands in his pockets, and rolled his eyes as he tilted his head up while releasing a fierce groan, "Aaaaaaghhh."

Dallas wanted to get another chance with this girl, because obviously she had something triggering him that no one could ever have triggered before. He wanted to explain himself, anything, just something about himself, but he didn't know what. He didn't like exposing himself to her, or anybody for that matter.

"Don't..." Dallas muttered softly while looking into another direction, "Just don't write me off yet, okay?".

Cherry couldn't quite understand what she was hearing. Was Dallas asking for a chance? A favor?

She could tell that he was beginning to speak from the heart, because he began to talk more softly, like as if he wanted no one to hear a word of what he was about to mention next.

"Look, I wish I could tell you some things," he added, "but I uh…I don't even know what I'de wanna say. Just don't give up on me."

Cherry nodded, and she understood. She didn't know how, but she did. As a truce, she walked toward Dallas and hugged him. He remained stiff, with his arms out toward his side, as if he were frozen just as he was about to hug her back. This caught him completely by surprise; he never hugged people. Not unless it were a friendly hug, as in between two guys, or two brothers. Never like this, however.

As Cherry's arms were wrapped around him, she whispered in his ear, "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."

Dallas smiled and finally wrapped his arms around her in return. Cherry pulled back from the hug, and on the way, she planted a soft kiss on his cheek. She started to walk back in the opposite direction, toward Dallas' car. He followed behind her. But just before she walked towards the door, Dallas cut in front and opened it for her. Cherry sat inside, she felt warm. Dallas shut the door and soon came in through the other side to sit down.

He immediately started up the car. "So, where to?" he asked Cherry. Cherry thought for a second about what she wanted. Finally she said, "Home, I guess."

Cherry directed Dallas towards her house, which resided in what looked to be a Soc Central. Beautiful, large suburban homes, and they all looked exactly alike. Dallas drove down each street with his eyes wide, muttering, "Jesus, you really have it nice over here, dontcha' Red?" For some reason this comment didn't settle well with Cherry. She really appreciated being who she was, but she was also tired of always being depicted as some sort of rich, innocent pearl that couldn't be tampered with. The car slowly came to a stop, as Cherry instructed, "This is it, right here." Dallas pulled over. The two sat in silence for about ten seconds. Then, Cherry finally said what was on her mind.

"Don't look at me like that," she stated, "You know I play on both teams in this town."

Dallas smirked and replied, "Yeah, I know. You _do_ know who you're talking to?"

Cherry knew that the others probably thought she was crazy for hanging around Dallas, hanging around a greaser. What would any Soc want to be doing with a hoodlum like that? She loved it, though.

"I guess I'de better be going." Cherry finally replied.

"Yeah," Dallas said, as he took his hand and ran it through a lock of her hair. She got up, opened the door, and stepped out of Dallas' car.

"Ay, what are you doing?" he said to her. Cherry turned around to look back at him, confused.

"You expecting _me _to freeze out here now or what?" he continued. Cherry paused, and then looked down to realize that he was referring to his jacket that was wrapped around her small frame. She let out a small, "Oh," and laughed as she walked back over to his window, taking the jacket off. As she handed it to him, he slid over to the passenger's seat and, while holding on to the jacket, stuck his head out the window and gave her one last hard kiss on the lips. This completely took Cherry by surprise, but she did not pull away. After about five seconds, Dallas pulled back and simply said, "I'll see you around, Cherry."

As he drove off, Cherry stood in her front yard, completely puzzled, wondering what Dallas had wanted exactly. She couldn't quite read him as well as she had wanted to. But as she watched that boy drive away, she immediately wished that she could have said something out of her element. She wanted to say, "_Why don't you come inside?" _Or even, _"I'm not as innocent as I may seem, Dallas." _But there he was, disappearing into the night as if a dream were only ending, or fading away.


	6. For Cherry

Today was a different day for Cherry. She didn't know what made it different, or how she felt any different; it was just a different day. It was Sunday, and Cherry had plans to meet up with her fellow Soc friends. Cherry rode with Marcia to the bowling alley to meet with the rest of the group. Once they had arrived, they saw two of their girlfriends from school that they were planning to meet. Michelle, who always acted so reckless among others, waved them over. Cherry had always admired Michelle, mainly for her carelessness toward what other people felt about her. In fact, she was sort of like Dallas in that way, which was probably why Cherry and her were such great friends. The other girl, her name was Sophia. She was a little more collected than Michelle was, but for some reason they were the perfect match as friends. They balanced each other out.

"Well well well, if it isn't the princess and the pea." Michelle laughed, as each of the girls exchanged hugs.

"Have you seen the boys yet?" Sophia asked. Marcia and Cherry shook their heads.

"They'll be here," Cherry assured. It was very often that the group had get-togethers like these. Cherry loved them, but she felt slightly different on this particular day, especially after being able to compare it to an event such as last night.

And Cherry was right; after about one minute, the boys started trailing in as a group. For some reason, however, they looked upset. All of the girls began to notice, because it wasn't like them to walk in with so much tension, and so silently, for that matter. Usually you could tell when they were near, because the room would start filling with sounds of chuckling and yelling.

"What's wrong with them?" asked Marcia. They were soon about to find out.

The group of five Soc boys walked up to them, about three of them sat down. The two remaining walked over and stood next to Cherry.

One of the boys standing, Mike, who was the new 'leader' of the pack ever since Bob's passing, said: "Cherry, is it true?"

The girls looked around, then at Cherry. They all had this puzzled look on their faces. Marcia, however, began to realize that she might have known what this was about. Cherry knew, too. But she didn't budge. She replied with a simple, "Is what true?"

"Don't play dumb," Mike added, "you went on a date with that Dallas Winston last night." The air was suddenly filled with silence. Michelle's jaw dropped, and Sophia's eyes widened. The boys continued to stare in waiting for Cherry's reaction. See, in a typical Soc's point of view, if you acted against one group member, you acted against all group members. In this case, Cherry going with a greaser almost immediately after Bob's passing was seen as betrayal to the Soc's as a whole.

"Yes, I did. Is that wrong?" Cherry replied.

"Is that wrong? Are you serious right now, Cherry?" Mike raised his voice. Another voice began to protest, "Not just any greaser, Cherry...But Dallas? Are you out of your mind?" Cherry already grew to be very annoyed and upset at this point.

She snapped back, "So? What harm has he done to me? He didn't kill Bob."

"It doesn't matter. He's always involved."

"Well then screw you, Mike."

Marcia smiled when Cherry said this. Michelle began to speak, "Look, Cherry, I'm all about love and equality and all that fun stuff, but Mike's got a point. I don't want to hear one day that this boy has been hurting you."

Cherry shuttered at the sound of this. She knew that she had been afraid of him hurting her before as well, but for some reason she just did not want to care anymore. "I know. But I'm fine, and he is too." she responded.

"Yeah, well he won't be so fine after tonight." Mike smirked with his smarty-attitude. "After tonight, he's gunna regret even looking at you."

"You stay the hell away from him, Mike!" Cherry snapped back. Cherry kept thinking to herself, _He has no right to do this._

The boys began to all stand up, as if they were about to leave.

"Look, there's nothing you can do to stop this Cherry. So the best thing there is to do, is just stay away from that worthless piece of shit, and we'll do the rest." Mike and the rest of the gang headed out towards the exit.

"Wait, where are you guys going? Hello?" Sophia yelled.

Mike turned to reply, "Look, we just wanted to come to try and reason with you. But if this is how it's going to be, then that's how it will be." Cherry was shaken with fury. She hated being controlled like that. The Soc's didn't own her. She even said it herself, she said it to Dallas; she played on both teams. Cherry did have the word "Soc" printed on her forehead.

As the girls watched them all leave the bowling alley, they began to comfort her.

"Cherry, I'm sorry hun. I didn't know this was going on, you should have told us." Michelle voiced calmly.

"She would have, but it only just happened." Marcia explained. She was the only one other than Cherry that knew what she was going through. And the crazy thing was, no one had even mentioned or protested against the fact that Marcia was going out with Two-Bit. He was a greaser, too.

After Marcia and Cherry had told the girls all about what had been going on, including Marcia liking Two-Bit, everyone gained a better understanding. But no matter how much or how little they all knew, they all knew one thing: there was going to be a fight tonight, no matter what.

"If it happens," Cherry suddenly spoke aloud to herself for the girls to hear, "whether they like it or not, Dallas will win."

Dallas was at a nearby gas station buying a new pack of cigarets, when suddenly Two-Bit came running towards him.

"Hey, Dal!" he shouted while running. He slowed down and stopped right in front of Dallas, who was just walking out of the gas station.

"Dal, I've been lookin' all over for you. Look, some Soc's are looking for trouble." he explained.

"Yeah?" Dallas replied. But Two-Bit could tell that Dallas wasn't really understanding what he meant, because he continued saying, "When aren't those damn rats looking for trouble?" as he blew smoke through his teeth.

Two-Bit rephrased his words, "No, Dal. They're looking for trouble with _you_." Dallas paused, then leaned forward with an eye brow raised. He wondered what they had wanted from him now.

"Probably has somethin' to do with Johnny, man. Look, I'll handle it just let me-"

"No, it's got somethin' to do with Cherry." Two-Bit continued to explain.

Dallas stopped in his tracks. This angered him, a lot. He immediately knew what this was about. But if they were so concerned with Cherry seeing a greaser, then why weren't they anywhere near as upset about Marcia seeing Two-Bit? Dallas suddenly possessed the urge to pound all of those Soc's faces in. He was mad. He had come to realization that this was not only a fight for the blood of a greaser; this was a fight for Cherry.

"Dally, whenever you need me man, I'm there. I'll be comin' with you all hungry for them sons a' bitches!" Two-Bit exclaimed with a pat on Dallas' back. Two-Bit ran over to three other greasers that were passing in trying to buy cigarets. Dallas smiled, watching Two-Bit run around, prancing like a maniac screaming, "YEEEEEHAW!"

With his short and sweet chuckle, Dallas yelled, "It's gunna be a rumble tonight, boys!"

Word began to spread around town that the rumble was to take place at the top of Westford Hill. It was around eleven o'clock at night, and the town had never looked so empty. Dallas drove his car over to the bottom of the hill, and parked. He was alone, only because he wanted to fight this alone. Dallas believed that if he was the problem, and if he was the reason these Soc's were looking for a fight, then he would arrive and fight alone. Dallas never wanted others to clean up his mess. He carried a six-inch foldout knife in his jacket, just in case. But the last thing he wanted to deal with was another dead Soc.

He walked up the steep hill, and all he could think about was Cherry. He thought of the other Soc guys touching her, he thought up anything that could make him mean. Finally, he thought of Mike's face, and he was disgusted by it. As he made his way up to the top of the hill, he saw car lights flashing; it was the Soc's. He could hear the cackling and mumbling of them, hiding behind their lights.

"Are you gunna show yourselves?" Dallas yelled over from about ten yards away. "Or are you gunna stay hidden and start touching each other in your car?"

Finally, Mike stepped out of the car, and the rest followed. As the rest of the crew stayed behind, in the shadows, Mike walked towards Dallas. Dallas just stood in place, watching Mike inch closer and closer. _This fuckin' kid, _he thought to himself, _probably can't even throw a punch. _Mike was, in fact, a bit stiff looking to be a fighter. He didn't look like he had ever fought anyone in his life. Finally, Mike stopped in his place, standing two feet away from Dallas with both arms at his side.

"Will it just be you and me then, Dallas?"

"What's the problem, Officer Tough Guy?" Dallas joked.

"I'm afraid you're my problem, grease. I don't think you understand, but Cherry is with us." Mike responded with his smart tone.

Dallas walked a few steps closer to him, while chuckling. Then, with a wise-ass smirk on his face, he sighed, "Well you should've warned her bout' that before she asked me to buy her a drink."

And with that, Dallas threw in the first punch, right into Mike's face. He punched, and punched, and punched, and continued to punch him as he hovered on top of him, throwing punches left and right. This only continued until he heard a group of howls and screams running toward him. This was unfair. This was to only be a fight between Mike and Dallas, not Dallas and five upset preps from the suburbs. He tried to fight them off; he tried to fight them all off. He turned around and punched one boy in the nose, but someone then kneed Dallas in the stomach. Once Dallas was on the ground, another started punching him to the floor, Dallas grabbed his shoulders and flipped him over, so that now he was hovering over him. But there were too many fighting him at once. Clearly, Dallas could take on anybody with confidence, but the others would just move too quickly, and there were too many of them. After several grabs, punches and kicks, Dallas had ended up somehow injuring three of the Soc's, including Mike. He reached over to grab the second to last Soc, and started hitting him to the ground, not giving him a single break. But just as Dallas turned around to finish off the other Soc, he was slammed in the head with a cracked piece of cement. It was the last remaining Soc; he had lifted up some demolished rock off the ground and hit Dallas on the side of his head with it. And for a split second, Dallas could not see straight. He could only see figures moving off the ground, and into the car. He could only hear faint noises of different voices saying, "C'mon, it's over! It's over!" and "He's hurt, man, Mike's hurt."

When Dallas gathered himself once again, he thought, _screw this._ _Any Soc is a dead Soc. _He took out his knife, and stabbed it right into the same exact Soc that slammed his head with a rock. The Soc screamed, and the rest of the gang could see that he was bleeding out of his arm. Quickly, and without even looking Dallas in the eye, they grabbed the Soc and carried him to the car, and then drove off. Dallas was fuming. He couldn't believe that he had let some stupid Soc hit him like that. Walking crookedly, he stumbled down the hill, straight to his car. Then he began to just sit there, and think. He didn't even know where to go. His head tingled from the puncture caused by the cement, but he could hardly even realize this only because of how furious he was. He was, however, glad that he finished those damn Soc's.

Dallas was trying to think of where he could possibly go. He could maybe go visit Two-Bit, and brag about what had just happened. He could go visit Ponyboy, or Johnny. No, he couldn't, that would probably rattle him up even more. He sat in silence, lit up a cigaret, and reclined his seat back. As he laid back, eyes closed, he tried to calm himself of all of the emotions he had conjured up during the fight. When his eyes opened, he was surprised to see something that had looked awfully familiar to him, that he usually never noticed.

It was the moon. As he stared into the moon, and all of its light and glow, he got an idea. He reclined his seat back to position, started up the car, and began to drive. He knew where he wanted to go.


	7. Ready for Dallas

Cherry couldn't sleep at all, especially knowing that at this very moment, both Dallas and her friends were in danger of getting hurt. Most likely though, she knew her friends were more likely to be hurt. _They had it coming for them, _she thought_, they were the ones who wanted to fight Dally in the first place. _Cherry tried to calm her nerves by flipping through some of the magazines she had laying around her house. Her parents weren't home, they had left earlier that afternoon on a flight to New York to visit her stepfather's family. With nothing to do and no one to talk to, it was awfully hard for Cherry not to think of what might have been happening at that exact moment in time. She was startled when she heard the sound of her door bell. _Oh no, _she worried. She knew that once she opened that door, she'd be hearing the news that one of the Soc's were hurt, or probably even killed. She could see it now as she slowly walked towards her door; seeing Mike standing there looking black and blue, telling horrible stories.

Cherry finally reached for the door, and when she opened it, she could not have been more shocked. There he stood, cigaret in hand, and the other hand pressed against the wall, Dallas Winston in all his charm. She immediately noticed the blood dripping from the side of his head, but then shortly after her attention was drawn to his glowing eyes; his eyes, they were staring right back into hers when she answered her door.

"Dallas!" Cherry finally gathered herself to speak, "Wha- What are you doing here?" Dallas dropped his cigaret on the floor and stepped on it. Looking down, he stated confidently with a raspy, broken voice, "I came to see you."

Cherry grabbed his arm lightly and pulled him inside. Then, she led him to her living room couch, which she sat him down upon as she walked over to the kitchen. "Can I get you anything? Water? A towel?" Cherry offered as she looked through her cabinets in a frantic manner.

Dallas remained on the couch, head hunched over his knees. He slowly sat up and said, "Jesus, relax baby. You're makin' me nervous with you running around like that. I feel like I'm at a fuckin' hospital." Cherry didn't care, she hated fights more than anything. She hated seeing people get hurt, and it upset her even more that the fight was mainly caused by her. If the Soc's were so upset at Cherry for seeing Dallas, she didn't understand why they couldn't just fight with her about it.

She ran a towel under some hot water, when suddenly she noticed that Dallas was up and walking around. His eyes wandered all over the room, like he had never seen anything like this before; probably because he hadn't seen anything like it before. Noticing this, she asked him, "Wanna see my room?". Dallas turned to look at Cherry unexpectedly, as if he forgot that she was even there, and said with a smile, "Sure. You can give me the grand ol' tour of Cherry's life at home."

Cherry smiled, removed the towel from the running water, and walked towards her room, with Dallas following close behind. She opened her door, and there Dallas finally saw, Cherry's room. Cherry led him to her bed, where she once again sat him down, and this time handed him the towel. She walked across to sit on one of her chairs, directly facing Dallas. She watched him react as he began to explore, while remaining seated on her bed.

Dallas thought he was in a little girl's castle. With lightly blue-colored walls, dark brown wooden shelves, white bed sheets, white curtains; it was fit for a Cherry. Dallas looked all over the room with his eyes, and finally looked at Cherry. He smiled and said, "Oh yeah. I can most definitely see you living here."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Cherry said as she smiled back. She noticed that Dallas wasn't even holding up the towel to his head. He just let it rest in his hand, looking like some lifeless object. She walked over and took the towel from him as she sat next to him on the bed.

"I don't know," he replied. "It just looks like you. So innocent and, and small. I mean don't get me wrong it's a huge ass room but I mean like the-"

"You think I'm innocent?" Cherry interrupted with a raised eyebrow.

"What, you think you're not?" he cleverly responded.

Cherry changed the subject. "Here," she said as she grabbed the towel, "you don't know how to use this properly, do you?"

She placed the towel against the right side of his head, which was right where the cement had punctured his skin. Dallas looked at Cherry as she did this. He had never been put into a position like this before. After all, he had been practically on his own all his life. No one had ever taken care of him like this. The silence between the two grew by the minute. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Cherry had gotten her bandaid kit and placed it on the bed beside her. She removed the towel from Dallas' head, and Dallas just sat there, not knowing how to respond to the situation. As Cherry leaned closer towards Dallas to clean up the mess on the side of his head, just above the cheek bone, she softly said, "I'm sorry I caused all this. I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

Dallas looked down and replied, "Nah, quit apologizing."

Cherry was not expecting an answer like this from Dallas. In fact, she thought that the only reason for him coming over was only to confront her on what a mess she had gotten him into. What _did_ Dallas want anyway? Cherry wondered why, out of all places, had he decided to stop by and see her?

"Ow!" Dallas screeched as Cherry dabbed his wound with a drop of alcohol. She found it sort of funny seeing Dallas in pain from something only a fragile girl like herself did, when in reality Dallas has put up with just about every type of pain one could think of in his life.

"Sorry," Cherry comforted him, "but this will only hurt for just a bit." After her warning, she pressed the entire alcohol-drenched cloth onto the wound. She began to feel Dallas become tense. Then, surprisingly, she felt his hand clasp onto her knee gently to ease the pain. She looked at Dallas, and he was looking straight ahead of him, squinting his eyes and nose in reaction to the sting. The weight of his hand on her knee made her smile. Finally, she removed the cloth, and placed a bandage to cover up part of the wound.

"Alright," she said as she finished, "Looking good."

Dallas stood up and look into the mirror above Cherry's desk. He checked himself out, stroking the side of his hurt cheek bone.

"How'd you even learn to do this?" he asked with a puzzled expression.

"I used to always do it for Bob. Greasers aren't the only ones who get hurt in fights, I'm sure you know that." Cherry responded as she glanced out towards the window.

Dallas paused, then looked at Cherry. He noticed that he may have brought something up that he shouldn't have.

"Oh, uh yeah, right" he said. He walked back over to the bed and sat down next to Cherry.

For some reason, Cherry felt completely reckless. Dallas was sitting on _her_ bed, right _at this moment_. Her parents were gone, her friends were no where to be found, it felt perfect. She wasn't sure why she had been thinking this way, and it sort of bothered her. But the way he looked tonight, it made her want to scream, and she didn't want anyone to hear her.

"Dallas, do you really look at me that way? Innocent?" she turned to ask him.

Dallas looked around her room, "C'mon," he said, "I mean I know you're tough Cherry but, you ain't nothin' short of innocent."

Cherry thought about this for a minute. He was right. She hated that he was right, too.

She sighed, "You're right, I am. You wanna know a secret though?"

Dallas tilted his head, "Yeah? What?"

"I hate it!" she replied while rolling her eyes. Dallas chuckled his short, sharp laugh. "You're killing me, Red. You're somethin' else." he smiled as he shook his head.

Cherry couldn't take the waiting anymore. She really didn't like how indecisive she was about what she had wanted. Last night she just wanted to talk with Dallas, and nothing but talk. Now, tonight? She's been using every muscle in her body to prevent herself from touching him. It didn't make sense to her. But she didn't want to even try to make sense out of it. She loosened up.

Cherry grabbed the back of Dallas' neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Once he let her in, he reached his hand over and cradled her back, pulling her in closer. _I'm ready for him now, I'm ready for Dallas _she thought to herself, as her kisses became harder and his grip grew stronger. They went on and off, kissing for about three full minutes at this point. But, unlike their other nights in the past, it wasn't going to end here. Cherry, with her small and fragile hands, untucked Dallas' shirt from his jeans, and then pulled it off above his head. Seeing this as an invitation, Dallas elevated himself onto his knees while on her bed, laying her down in front of him. He hovered over her, as she allowed her soft hands to caress his chest from top to bottom. His necklace, that he wore every day since the first day she had met him, dangled over her and rested on top of her, just below her neck. He continued to kiss her, first on the lips, then on her cheek, and lastly, her neck.

Cherry let him slowly feel up her shirt with his larger hands, until he managed to navigate her bra. She felt him unhook it, and it made her heart flutter. She sat up, and she began to kiss Dallas' neck right back. He ran her fingers through his soft hair, and there was still blood on his neck from the fight, but she no longer cared. Finally, sitting on Dallas' lap while facing him, he slowly took of Cherry's shirt. All that was left between Dallas' chest and hers was a single unhooked bra. After a slight pause, and a moment of breathing, Cherry leaned in once more to kiss Dallas' warm and soft neck, as she felt him slip off the one boundary separating her bare from him.

Once again, Cherry's indecisiveness remained an obstacle as she began to realize that she was becoming nervous once again. Perhaps it was how cold she became, once she was stripped bare naked above the waist, or maybe it was because she was afraid. Yes, that was what it was. Cherry was still afraid of Dallas. She did not know what he was capable of, or maybe she did, but she still had no idea of what his intentions were. She stopped, looked down, and could not look back up at him. Dallas noticed this immediately once he felt her body grow tense. Dallas stared at her, watching her as she avoided eye contact. She began to look at his chest, and then at his necklace. And then, Dallas finally said it.

"You're scared," he spoke softly in her ear as he rubbed her back gently. As of right now, she was completely wrapped up in his arms, topless, and she did not like that. She felt as if he could see right through her, and she didn't feel that that was alright because she couldn't see through him.

"I am," Cherry finally said, "I'm sorry. I'm not always like this."

"I told you before to quit apologizing, Cherry."

Cherry finally looked up at him, only to see that he was staring right at her. He leaned his head forward and kissed her on her forehead. He let his lips stay, pressed against her face, breathing, waiting. He finally murmured, "I'm scared too."

Cherry could not help but feel extremely surprised. The word "scared" was not ever to be found in Dallas' vocabulary, at least when referring to himself.

"You? What could you possibly be scared of?" she asked with complete surprise.

"I'm afraid I might hurt you." he replied. After a short pause, he continued, " Look, I know you're nervous, and I know you're scared of me. I could tell ever since the first day we met. But there's really no reason you should be scared of me now, you got that?"

Cherry felt somewhat better after he had said this. Dallas unwrapped his hands around her and reached them behind his neck. She had a puzzled look on her face, until she had realized that he was taking his necklace off. This made Cherry more nervous. _Great, _she thought, _now he's really about to get rowdy. _ But much to Cherry's surprise, that was not what Dallas was removing his necklace for.

"Here," he lowered the volume of his voice as he lowered and placed the necklace onto Cherry's neck, "Wear this."

Cherry, with a slight grin slowly appearing on her face, looked up at Dallas as if she were asking what was going on.

"Maybe it'll make you brave, like me." he said with a smirk. Cherry grabbed the small pendant-like object around her neck, and looked down at it. Then she looked up at Dallas, only to see that he had a slight grin. She leaned in and gave Dallas a hug, as he continued to wrap his arms around her, brushing his lips against her ear.

And as they embraced she heard him softly whisper, "I'll never write you off, baby girl."

Cherry's smile grew bigger and bigger, and finally, she leaned over to her lamp, and switched the light off.

And in complete darkness, the sounds of delicate kisses became softer, and Cherry grew braver and braver as Dallas, one by one, stripped her of everything but that necklace.

* * *

><p>Don't worry, there's more coming! Please review so far, and let me know if you enjoy :] Thanks!<p> 


	8. Finally, It's Love

***WARNING* The following chapter includes a very detailed scene that may not be appropriate for young readers. Very detailed. If you feel that you may be offended by the details in this scene, you may scroll down and start your read after the dividing line. The content above the line, however, (and I will say this as straight forward as possible) I suggest you do not read, basically if you're easily disturbed or do not enjoy reading sex scenes. **

**P.S: I advise you not to ignore the above warning, read the whole passage, and then write negative comments to me explaining how unnecessary it is to include this scene. As the author I thought it would add an interesting touch to the story, and as the writer I say it stays. Do not say I didn't warn you...**

Cherry became colder and colder as Dallas exposed her delicate, pale skin to the air that whistled through her bedroom window, as he slowly slid her skirt down to her ankles, and then tossed them on the floor. As Cherry laid there, she could not help but ask herself if this was the right thing to do, if she had really wanted Dallas to be the one who changed her life. About a thousand thoughts ran through Cherry's mind at once as Dallas began to kiss her stomach lightly, slowly inching lower and lower, and lower.

Dallas could smell the scent of Cherry's sweet perfume. It smelt like a hint of vanilla mixed with some sort of flower, he couldn't tell. But he liked it. As he inched down, kissing and nibbling and at her waist, he noticed her legs tense up as they squeezed together closely. He looked up at her, waiting for words, and his vision became blurred. He may have been slightly weak from the dramatic blood loss from his head, but he could still make out the image of Cherry tilting her head, and reaching an arm out towards him, running her fingers through his hair. He rested his head down upon her stomach for a quick moment only to retain his sight back. He closed his eyes, and then opened them, and then closed them. "Are you okay?" Cherry asked as she quickly sat up, with Dallas slowly lifting his head up. "Yeah, just dizzy. I'm good." he replied.

Cherry began to worry if she had been a bore to him. _He's not even used to this, _she thought, _I'm just not fast enough for him like the other girls. _Dallas was back in the game once again as he sat up and restored his position as he hovered of her, and began to kiss her on her nervous lips. Between kisses he lowered his voice and muttered under his breath, "I'm gonna try something with you, alright?"

She took a moment to breathe, and then nodded.

Dallas once again began to inch his way down her stomach, kissing each and every step of the way, until he reached a sensitive spot just below her belly button. Cherry began to realize what was going on. She felt nervous, only because she was not sure of how to react. But there was one thing she knew in her mind was right; she wanted Dallas to be her first. He looked up at Cherry once more, and then down again. Finally, he went slightly lower, and reached what would be every girl's most sensitive spot.

He then took his fingers, and together he gently placed them onto her, only separated from the thin lining of her underwear. He petted her gently, only to check and make sure she was comfortable. Dallas looked up at Cherry, only to see that this time she was looking up at her ceiling instead. Little did he know, she was completely losing it. _What if it doesn't feel good? _she thought,_ What if he gets upset? What if I do something stupid and wrong? _But to Dallas, she was just a girl staring at the ceiling. He looked back down at her and continued to prep her. He then, slowly but surely, began to slide her underwear down her tightly bound legs, little by little. On his way back up, he tucked his hands under her legs and softly began to slide them up from under, until he reached her bottom. It was from this gesture that Cherry had decided to finally loosen up her legs, and they began to open only slightly. Dallas loved how strong and yet frail she felt. He had never felt that he need to be this gentle to any girl before, but he could tell that she must have been experienced, the way she handled herself.

While looking into her eyes as they both met eye contact with one another, he leaned into her and kissed her parts gently. He then closed his eyes and leaned in even more, and Cherry couldn't believe what she was feeling. She gasped as she began to feel something wet, as well as Dallas' warm breath inside her. "Dally," she whispered to herself, not realizing that she had said it aloud. As he continued to please her, he let his hands roam her body as she later grabbed onto them. After a few minutes she squeezed his hands, which let him know that it was a job well done.

Cherry sat up. She lost her mind, but she never came to understand why guys liked to do this so much. And Dallas could tell this was running through her mind from the way she looked at him after he was done with her. He wiped his mouth and with a smile, he told her, "You're as sweet as a cherry." She laughed, his comment had completely caught her off guard. They continued to kiss, when suddenly a noise took them both by surprise.

* * *

><p>There was a knock at the door. Cherry froze, and hoped to God that it wasn't her parents. But she knew it wouldn't be, because they had only just left earlier that day and there was no reason for them to come back so suddenly. Dallas just stopped and looked at Cherry, with a big <em>Uh-oh<em> in his eyes. "Shit, shit shit shit..." Cherry mumbled as she got up from under Dallas and hopped off her bed. She quickly picked up her clothes off the ground and dressed herself under what seemed like five seconds. Dallas watched her become flustered, and it sort of freaked him out. He realized that this was not the typical girl that he had been used to all his life; some chick with no parents, no one to hide from, no place to call home, no curfew. Cherry was the complete opposite. In order to accept Cherry into his life, he would need to accept all of the responsibilities that come along with her. Like respect for adults, for example; Cherry has been raised by two wealthy parents. Dallas barely even knew how to treat an adult with respect. In his world, wherever he was, he was on top. Dallas never answered to anyone that he had no respect for. Or even respect for friends of hers for that matter. Or bringing her home in time for her curfew. Or taking her places, or giving her everything she has always wanted.

By the time Dallas had come back to reality, he was already dressed, following Cherry slowly towards the window by the door. They both slowly peeked through the side window, hoping that it was a false alarm. Mostly, however, Cherry was doing all the peeking, for Dallas' mind had been occupied at this time. As Cherry inched closer to the window, Dallas watched her as her mouth opened wide in shock. Not only in shock; Cherry was worried. "What what what- Who is it?" Dallas asked as he noticed her look of worry.

Suddenly Cherry backed away from Dallas and slowly towards the door. "It's okay," she reassured him. Dallas couldn't understand why Cherry had been acting like this, so he took it on his own to look through the window. And then, he knew why.

Dallas nearly bit his own tongue off looking through that window, seeing Mike, the Soc who asked for a fight, the guy who he nearly killed under a minute. The guy who wanted Cherry. Dallas assertively walked towards the door.

"Dal, don't-" Cherry begged, as Dallas shrugged her aside and finally made it to the door. He opened it, with Cherry standing beside him.

Dallas took one hard look at him. He saw his two black eyes that he had given him just an hour before, but the rest was clean. "So look who it is. And look who went home and cleaned themselves up eh?" Dallas said jokingly. Dallas knew he was responsible for those bruises, and he took pride in it. Mike was dead to him. Mike fiercely replied, "Hey, asswipe, I'm not here to talk to you. Cherry, why'd you let this dog in your house?"

Dallas couldn't take it anymore. "Listen you little shit," he pulled out his gun from his coat pocket, which was not loaded, and pointed it right toward Mike's neck. Cherry's eyes widened and looked at Dallas. "Dallas!" she scolded.

But Dallas continued, "You have ten seconds to get the FUCK off this porch, you understand?" He could tell that Mike was clearly unaware that his gun was unloaded, because he slowly began to back away with his hands out at his side.

"DALLAS!" Cherry raised her voice. Mike looked at Cherry as he continued to back away and said, "Is this what you call a joke, Cherry? From Bob to this? You know what this little prick can give you? Nothing."

Cherry shook her head, and continued to say with a raised voice "You don't know what you're talking about Mike. I think it's best you leave." She pushed Dallas' gun down as she looked up at him with an upset look on her face.

Mike continued to speak, "You're not one of them, Cherry. I can take you places. He'll take you to the dumpsters, that's where he'll take you." He gestured towards Dallas.

Dallas knew this guy was a joke. He could barely keep up a fight for two minutes. And here he was, trying to pick up on his deceased best friend's girl. _And I'm the fuckin' douche bag? _Dallas thought to himself.

"You're drunk," Cherry calmly said towards Mike with a straight face.

"Look, I just want to talk to you Cherry. Not with this greaser that you call a gentleman hanging around." he responded.

Cherry thought for a second, and then looked back at Dallas. Dallas then narrowed his eyes with a smile and muttered, "Yeah yeah...". He then proceeded to step back into the doorway and return inside the house while mumbling, "Do whatever the fuck you kids want..."

Mike brought Cherry aside to his car as Cherry shrugged his hand off her arm. Cherry could not help but think of how much more this night could have been ruined. It couldn't have been worse. Who knows what would have happened between her and Dallas if Mike hadn't stopped by.

"Cherry, what are you doing?" Mike continued to ask.

"Michael, I refuse to discuss any of this with you until you sober up. It's ridiculous, the way you're acting."

He raised his voice, "No, the thing that really is ridiculous, Cherry, is you doodling around with that LOWLIFE." He yelled towards the house, as if he wanted Dallas to hear those specific words.

Cherry normally would have been rattled by something like this, but she wasn't. She shook her head and looked straight into Mike's drunken eyes and with a harsh tongue, she said, "We're done here. Goodnight."

As Cherry walked back towards her house, Mike furiously gave in and walked into his car's passenger seat. His designated driver immediately sped out of her drive way and into the darkness.

Dallas watched Mike get into his car through the window as he took off his jacket, and walked back toward Cherry's room. Cherry entered the house and noticed that Dallas was gone. Figuring he had made it back to her room, she walked over and saw Dallas lighting a cigaret as he laid on her bed.

"You're insane." she told him with a serious expression.

After a long pause, Dallas chuckled as he glanced out the window, "Wasn't even loaded. Fuckin' idiot, man."

"He's an idiot for what, thinking that you'd shoot him? Because if so, then I must be an idiot too." she scolded Dallas as she glared right into his eyes until he finally looked over at her. Slightly relieved, however, Cherry sighed and walked over to sit on her bed, next to Dallas' legs. Dallas took off his jacket and, with his gun, placed them on the nightstand beside him. He finally took a deep breath. The two of them remained silent for about three minutes. He could tell that Cherry was thinking twice about him.

Dallas sighed and let out a small groan. "Cherry, what do you want from me huh?" he said with clasped heads over his face.

"What do you mean, what do I want from you?" she responded.

"Just make up your mind already, aight? Come here.". He waved Cherry over as he began to sit up with his back resting against her wall. Cherry got up and moved to sit right next to Dallas, with her back against her wall as well. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and placed her hand on top of his, which was resting in his lap.

His eyes lowered to the necklace around her neck; the one that he gave her only several minutes ago. She closed her eyes. Dallas waited about five or six minutes for her to rebound off of him, and maybe even ask for him to leave, only later to realize that she had actually fallen asleep on him. The room was as silent as it would ever be. All he could hear were the gentle inhales and exhales softly whistling out of Cherry. Her hands had fallen like small angels into his lap, resting on his hand. He took advantage of this moment to tell her a recently thought-out confession.

He lowered his voice and spoke softly, "That Mike kid's a real wuss, man. But he can be right sometimes." He began to look down at her, looking at her sealed eye lids, watching her breathe. He lightly grabbed the hand that she had resting on his, and stroked it with his thumb.

He continued softly, "You know I can't take you very far from this place, Red." He stared straight in front of him. Dallas even knew it himself that he couldn't do much for Cherry. He was broke, with money only to keep himself and a few close friends alive. He had no family around who cared, he had no respect for any authority whatsoever. He had no plans for his future. Dallas was smart, he knew that clearly this was not the package that Cherry had been looking for. A girl like Cherry deserved someone who could give her everything, take her places. He knew he would never change for anybody either. Strangely, it made Dallas feel down when thinking this.

Dallas hated it, too. In his world, this was called going 'soft.' In reality, however, just about anyone was bound to feel something like this at least once in their lifetime. But Dallas continued to wonder exactly what 'this' was. Maybe it was love, maybe it wasn't.

Maybe it was love.

Suddenly, he was taken by surprise when Cherry spoke, her eyes still closed,

"You're here, and that is enough".

Dallas looked down at her, realizing that she had been awake this whole time. "What?" he muttered back.

She sighed, "You take me away from all of this, you're like home away from home, you know?" This made Dallas think a little. In fact, for some reason, the first thought that came to mind was, _Thank God the guys have never seen me slip like this. _He hoped that they would never ever see him like this. He still could not for the life of him figure out what 'this' was. What was he doing?

Dallas began to shut his eyes, he could barely stand the light. The only problem was, there was barely any light in the room. The only light remaining was leaking through the window from the street lamps. He began to notice himself getting weaker, and weaker.

To distract himself from his dizziness, he began to talk. "I don't get you, Red. I really don't." Cherry was about to sit up, but then realized that her hand was still clasped in Dallas', and his thumb was still stroking her small, delicate wrist. Instead, she lifted her head off his shoulder.

"Why do you need to get me?" she said in a slightly annoyed tone. Dallas had already told her this many times.

"Cause' I think I might love you." he said, looking straight ahead of him.

Cherry's heart dropped. _What did he say? _she thought to herself. She could not even believe what she had heard. All she knew, however, was that she was happy. She was happy with someone she had chose all on her own.

Dallas did not enjoy admitting this to Cherry at first, only because saying you loved someone meant that you were telling them how you feel. Dallas never let anyone know how he felt, unless it was anger. However, he began to feel joy, looking down and seeing Cherry's face light up at the sound of these words. He watched her skin begin to glow, her eyes begin to shine. He could no longer handle watching it any longer, so he leaned in and kissed her soft lips. He only kissed her once, and they both rested with their heads pressing against one another. Cherry smiled and whispered, "I think I might love you too."

Dallas' grin grew larger than Cherry had ever seen it before. He laid down from where he sat, and brought Cherry down with him. He allowed her to lay next to him, her face pressed against his chest. He felt her breathing on him, as he began to wrap his outside arm around her, pulling her slightly further inward towards him. Cherry could feel how warm his chest was on her nose. With her fingers spread apart, she placed her hand onto his chest and felt his heart beat. _So fast, _she thought. She immediately knew, however, that her heart must have been beating much faster.

Cherry then spoke, "If I told you that this is how I wanted our rest of the night to be, would you stay?"

At this time, Dallas could have bailed. He could have realized that this wasn't him nearly at all, and it was best for him to just leave. He could have left from knowing the fact that he wouldn't have gotten any other action when staying at Cherry's house; at least that's what he would have done if he were in any of the other girls' houses.

But instead, Dallas placed his lips upon Cherry's forehead, and with a smile he mumbled, "Sure, yeah I'll stay."


	9. A Love Worth Running After

Dallas awoke the next morning with red curly locks pressed against his cheek. As he slowly opened his eyes, exposing his sight to the light that leaked through Cherry's bedroom window, he noticed her sweet smelling hair, and her soft cheeks and nose buried into his bare chest. Barely moving a muscle, he looked down at her small, closed eye lids and her slowly rising shoulders, moving up and down gently as she continued to breathe. He loved the sound of her breathing, it was so soft. _I'm watching her sleep, _he thought to himself, _how creepy is this?_

He looked back up towards her window, and then right beside the window on her wall was a clock. He tried to squint and make sense of what it was; he could not retrieve sight of it very fast due to how weak he was from the wound he got the previous night. Finally, he could make out that the clock had read 9:00 AM. Dallas looked back straight ahead of him, which in his current position, was up at the ceiling. His arms were wrapped around Cherry, and her hand was placed upon his chest right, next to her face. He began to try and remember what had happened last night. For some reason, he could not remember much at first. The more he thought, however, the more began to visualize flashes of what had happened. He remembered walking up that steep hill to see Mike, he remembered stabbing that Soc in the arm, he remembered driving furiously to Cherry's house, he remembered hearing her panting as he explored her body, he remembered her asking him if he would stay.

He then remembered something that he wasn't quite sure was real. He remembered telling her that he loved her. Dallas continued to think and ask himself repeatedly, _What the hell did I tell this girl? Did I tell her I love her? _The more he asked himself, the more he wondered if that was just a hallucination from the blood loss. He wondered if he had actually loved Cherry as much as he said he did, or at least thought he did.

Dallas had never fallen in love with anyone in his lifetime. In fact, it almost seemed as if Dallas had no time to love at all. Why fall in love when you have so much to fight for at this age? Dallas had too much responsibility over himself; whether it was watching over Ponyboy and the boys, or even taking care of himself, Dallas was fine on his own. He didn't want or need anybody else to take care of him or remain at his side.

But _love, _did Dallas really _love _Cherry? Or was he just immensely surprised in reaction to how Cherry was taking care of Dallas? Was it the way she patted down his bloody cheek? The way Cherry smiled at him in her doorway? Dallas became slightly upset. He knew it wasn't her fault, he had just not been used to being put in such a dilemma.

Finally, he felt Cherry move slightly in his arms. He heard a small sigh, and before he knew it, her eyes began to flutter as they slowly opened. As they opened, they looked up at Dallas. Dallas' mind froze as her sparkling brown eyes grabbed a hold of him, and pulled him in closely towards her glowing grin. Her lips were naturally a blooming, reddish color, and her cheeks were pale and freckled, but they looked amazing in her lit up room.

Yeah, he loved her alright.

His hand moved up her body and moved to her head, as he began stroking her hair lightly. "Woah," was the first word he let escape through his mouth as he stared at her.

Cherry puzzlingly looked back at him, "What?" she smiled.

"You look like this every morning, Red?" he finally responded. Cherry lightly laughed, she thought that Dallas was acting unusually cute.

"Like what?" she replied. Dallas continued to look at her face, which he had found strangely beautiful. Normally a guy like Dallas, or, in other words, Dallas Winston himself, would be attracted to the typical girl who was down to do anything before the night was over. She'd be in a short skirt or a tightly fitted dress, and she'd go home with just about anyone with charming good looks. She'd be wearing a face full of make up, and by morning, the make up would be worn off, leaving a trashed up wreck on the bed beside him.

But looking at Cherry's face, Dallas just could not understand what he had found so beautiful about it. Her face was so fresh, so clean and yet so bright. She was a natural beauty. Finally, after a long pause, Dallas responded, "You look awful. Get outta here, your makin' me sick to my stomach." Then he smiled, and Cherry knew that he was trying to be smart with her. She opened her mouth and smiled back. She gave him a short and sweet kiss on the lips, and began to sit up and make her way off the bed. Dallas pulled her in one more time for a longer kiss, and Cherry allowed it. Once they were done, Dallas finally spoke, "I gotta split real soon."

Cherry frowned, "How soon? How come?"

"Probably, like, _now _soon. Sodapop promised me that he and Steven would try and fix up the engine on my car this morning, I don't wanna bail out on them."

Cherry couldn't help but feel bummed that Dallas was leaving so early. She didn't want to think that Dallas wanted to leave only because he didn't care enough to stay around and talk to her. _But he did stay last night, _she thought. If he really only wanted action, he wouldn't have stayed. Or maybe he would have. Dallas could see that something was on her mind. He reached his hand over and placed it on the back of her neck after he had put his jacket on. "Look, if it were any day other than today, you know I'd stay. You know that, alright?" He kissed her by the ear and said, "I mean it." Cherry believed him. She knew it was wrong to go on about judging him like that. It wasn't fair to continue to not trust Dallas like this, he deserved something for all he was giving to her.

Dallas wanted to tell Cherry he loved her, but at the same time he hated saying it. Before he tempted himself too much, he smiled at Cherry and walked out of her room, and out the door. As he continued out the door, he wondered what he would tell the boys if they had asked about anything. Did he want to tell them about Cherry? How he felt about her? No, no definitely not about how he felt. Maybe he'll only tell them about his visit at her house, but nothing detailed. Or maybe he'll just tell them how the fight went down. Why was any of this even important to Dallas?

Dallas arrived at the gas station as he saw Sodapop waving him in with a towel in his hand. Dallas got out of this car, gave Sodapop a nod, and they were on their way.

"Dallas! How've you been, man? Two-Bit told me you went down with some of the Soc's last night. " Sodapop walked around the back toward Dallas' car and opened up the hood. He then looked up at Dallas and noticed the bandage on his neck. "Damn, did some shit go down last night or what?" he continued.

Dallas began to light a cigaret. He chuckled "Yeah, shit went down last night." He inserted the cigaret into his mouth. As he let a trail of smoke blow from his mouth, he said, "Kicked every one of them Socs' asses last night, man." He watched Sodapop's face light up as his eyes widened. He laughed, "Hell yeah you did! What's with your neck? You go to a hospital or something?"

Dallas laughed at the thought of this. Just thinking about Cherry taping up that bandage, it made Dallas laugh when Sodapop confused it with the work of a hospital. While laughing and shaking his head, Dallas replied, "Nah, nah. This girl Cherry, man, unbelievable. This took her like two minutes." He pointed to the side of his neck.

Sodapop opened his mouth and nodded in understanding, then replied, "Oh yeah? Cherry?" He looked back down at his engine, and began to take and pick apart its equipment. While doing so, he continued, "Yeah uh… I heard all about her, Dal…Isn't she the whole reason them Socs' wanted a fight? What's the story with you guys?"

Dallas took another drag of his cigaret and thought before replying, "Kind of along story, man. They're just pissed about seein' a girl like her, runnin' around with a guy like me, you know?"

This was how Dallas had continued to tell his story to the boys throughout the day. Nothing detailed, nothing about him and Cherry. For all they knew, Cherry could have been some street smart New Yorker like him, or a hooker he just met five minutes ago, and none of them would have known. Except for Two-Bit, however, who hadn't spoken to him yet that afternoon.

As hours flew by, Cherry stayed home, waiting for Marcia to come by and pick her up. Two-Bit had invited Marcia to a party later that night that the boys were having at some greaser's backyard, and he told her to bring Cherry, too. Cherry knew that Dallas would be there, only because she knew how close he was to those boys. She still couldn't believe that she had been hanging around these guys for this long, and she hadn't even heard a word around the school of it spreading, yet.

*LATER THAT NIGHT*

Dallas walked into the party along with Two-Bit, Ponyboy and Johnny. "Ay, look who it is!" screamed the other greasers as they walked in. Dallas was greeted by several greasers as he walked by a small bon fire, surrounded by people of all ages; adults, men, women, teenagers, greasers, girls. As he said hello to one of the greasers, he was startled by a small tap on the shoulder. He turned around, and he did not like what he saw.

It was Shelby, a girl whom Dallas had known since he had first moved to Oklahoma. Ever since she and Dallas had a one night stand, it turned into a long-time friendship. At least for her, anyway. Dallas never minded Shelby until he had figured out she had been bad-mouthing his friends to some of the other greasers; some greasers that he had never liked. He never liked people who were two-faced, especially people who would never admit to being two-faced.

"Dally," Shelby smiled as she hugged him. "You don't get out much often as you used to, huh? Where have you been hiding!" She began to flirt with him, put her hand on his shoulder, raise her eyebrows. Shelby was loved by every one of the greasers, but never Dallas. Enjoying Shelby's promiscuous flirting techniques, now that was Dallas' thing of the past. Annoyed, Dallas responded, "Hey Shelby."

"Come," she grabbed Dallas' hand, "I want you to meet some people I just met. They'd like you, a lot."

Dallas was about to protest to her, but she pulled his arm and nearly dragged him to a group of people who immediately began eyeing him. He recognized a few of their faces, but he didn't feel like meeting anyone knew. He was there to meet up with friends, and with friends only. Shelby tried to strike up a conversation that would get Dallas talking, but Dallas wouldn't budge. He just lit up a cigaret, as girls around him watched him smoke in awe. Shelby could feel the tension rising between the others and him, so she decided to move both her and Dallas out of the group. "Hey, what's the matter with you?" she asked annoyingly.

"Look, Shelby, just leave me alone, aight?"

"Fuck off, Dal!" Shelby was fed up, she turned her back towards him and walked back towards her group of eye-wandering girls, who could not stop staring at Dallas.

"Jesus Christ…" Dallas muttered to himself as he walked back towards the cooler to grab a beer. He then walked back towards Two-Bit and the boys, and then immediately felt surprised as his attention was brought to the backyard entrance. It was Cherry.

Cherry and Marcia walked in, and greasers all around began to stare. He noticed that Cherry had looks a bit different; it was her outfit. Instead of the same old skirt and sweater that he had been used to seeing her in, she wore a fitted maroon dress that fit her perfectly. Over the dress, she wore a dark denim jacket. Her hair fell over her shoulders just the way it always did, so effortlessly. He couldn't keep an eye off of her. He could, however, feel everyone else's eyes in the room practically undressing her, so he walked over to her and placed his arm around her. "Cherry," he said with a smile, "I had no idea you were coming."

"Yeah," she laughed, "Two-Bit told Marcia to come to this, and she went ahead and brought me. Where's the beer?" Dallas raised an eyebrow in shock, he would have never expected a question like this coming from a little Soc girl. But he then remembered, Cherry wasn't a Soc girl, she was _his _girl. And she was very unpredictable, too.

"Here, why don't you go with your friend for a minute, I'll get you one." Dallas walked over to the cooler. For some reason, he felt happier. He didn't feel odd, or strange, or afraid at all. He liked seeing Cherry being able to mingle and talk with friends of his. In fact, it sort of turned him on.

Shelby, with narrowed eyes, stared at Cherry from across the yard. She had come to notice that she was with Dallas, and that was why Dallas had seemed so uninterested in her when she had approached him earlier.

"What…..is _that?"_ one of Shelby's friends asked as they all stared at Cherry. To them, Cherry was a no-good Soc girl who was trying to play both sides of the fence; but that was not settling with them too well. Shelby had to have Dallas back. As she saw Dallas walking to the cooler toward their general direction, Shelby walked towards him for the steal.

As she approached him, she found Dallas looking down at the empty cooler, with a blank expression written on his face.

"Aw, no more beers." she said, "Wanna come inside with me to grab some?"

Dallas looked up at her, and without responding, he walked with her inside the house to grab more beers. He moved quickly, and Shelby quickly followed behind. She quickly turned to look back, only to see that Cherry was talking with Marcia, Two-Bit, and a few more greasers.

As Dallas walked into the kitchen with Shelby following close behind, she grabbed him by the shirt, and quickly pushed him into the hallway. She then opened the bathroom door and pushed him inside. She entered the bathroom and locked the door behind her. "Shelby, what the fuck are you doing?" Dallas raised his voice, "Don't play this with me."

Shelby went straight for the gold, she pushed his back against the wall and kissed him. He pushed her back. "Stop, I mean it." he said. Shelby couldn't take it, so she kissed him again, harder. Dallas grew more upset and pushed her even harder, "I mean it, Shelby!" he raised his voice even louder.

"Who's that girl?" Shelby immediately asked him. She ran her fingers through Dallas' hair, as she waited for an answer. "Huh? Who is she, Dally?" Dallas continued to stare, annoyed, into Shelby's eyes, waiting for her to pull away. Then, unexpectedly, he felt Shelby take her hand and grab his crotch, as she whispered, "Can she give you what _I can give you?" _

With a tight grasp, she began to rub him gently, and after a short pause, Dallas had realized what a mistake this was, and pulled Shelby's hand off of him. "You're a real mess, you know that?" he said bluntly, unlocked the bathroom door, and walked out. Shelby took a second, standing in the bathroom, wondering if Dallas would come back. He wouldn't.

Dallas walked out of the hallway and into the doorway of the kitchen, and saw Cherry grabbing a beer out of the fridge. She turned and saw him looking at her, and smiled, "You left me waiting! What took you so long?"

Before Dallas could even answer her, his nightmare had reappeared in the doorway with him. Cherry's smile began to disappear as she watched Shelby come from behind Dallas, wrapping her arms around his waist, kissing his neck. "Thanks for the quickie, baby." she said towards his ear, loud enough for Cherry to hear. Dallas quickly nudged her off of his shoulder and backed away in disgust. "What the hell is wrong with you, man?" he asked Shelby. "Cherry, don't listen to this broad, she's out of her mind." Cherry only froze in her position, beer in hand, and began to silently nod. Then, she immediately walked out the door.

Completely ignoring Shelby, Dallas furiously chased after Cherry. He spotted her walking towards Marcia. He began to follow.

"Marcia, you're gonna need to find a ride home. I'm taking your car." Marcia nodded, slightly worried, but gave Cherry her keys anyway. She was close enough to her to trust her with anything, especially if it was urgent. Cherry took the keys and without a word said to Dallas, she exited the backyard party within seconds.

Dallas didn't even let the question run through his mind for more than a second; the question of whether or not he should run after her. He was at a party, his friends were present, some friends whom he hadn't even seen in months. Why spend a night like this over some broad? Dallas didn't let it stump him, he went for the girl. He didn't know why, though.

"Cherry!" he yelled as he ran after her. He saw her get into Marcia's car, and just as he was approaching her window, she drove off faster than ever, up the hill. Dallas had wondered why she wasn't driving down the hill, because that was where she lived. Could she be driving to another friend's house? Regardless, he knew it was unsafe for a girl like her to be driving at this hour in this area.

He swallowed his tough-guy pride, walked over to his parked car, and sat inside. As he sat down to think, he watched as Cherry angrily drove up that hill, and eventually disappeared into the dark. He then turned on his car, pressed down on the gas pedal, and sped up that hill with no thought at all; he only knew what he was after, but he did not know why.


	10. Not Afraid Anymore

_**I'm just going to be straight forward with you: THIS IS A SEX SCENE. If you do not approve of sex scenes, you might wanna take a break from reading, and wait for the next chapter. **_

As Dallas sped up the narrow road, he began to realize that he was almost all the way up the entire hill. He slowly began to give up. If Cherry wasn't at the top of this hill, she must have stopped at a friend's if this were the case, there'd be a very slim chance that Dallas was ever to run into her again tonight; not unless he waited at her house for her return. But he would never, he didn't want to end up running into her parents. Of course, Dallas was never aware that Cherry's parents left only a day ago for a week-long trip.

As he drove to the top of the hill, where only about a dozen trees stood, he was surprised to actually see Cherry getting out of her car. She was parked near the edge of the cliff that was opposite the side of the hill, and she began walking towards the edge, looking out at the view. Dallas parked his car, and began to walk over to her. He could only see her silhouette, right in front of the moon; A beautiful and small figure of Cherry with her arms folded, as her hair blew gently in the late night breeze. She looked as if she were pleased by the view.

The view was beautiful, you could see all of the lights of the town shining brightly. Cherry watched the lights one by one, turning off. It was almost midnight. The footsteps of Dallas had startled her. She turned around and gave him a death stare that he would never forget.

"Cherry," he spoke lightly while slowly walking closer. "Cherry, I wish I could prove to you that I never touched that girl tonight. I really do." Cherry turned back around towards the edge, and began to sigh at the sight of the entire town. Cherry could feel his voice drawing closer, and finally flinched when she felt the touch of Dallas' hand on her waist as he continued, "Cherry, please. I'd never do a thing like that to you. "

Cherry shook her head, "I thought you were better," she then raised her voice, "you're such an asshole!" Dallas grew frustrated when he heard this. He knew that Cherry could never trust someone like him, but he continued to try. After a long pause, he walked in front of her and placed his hand on her cheek.

"If I can just tell you what happened, will you listen? Please?" he lowered his voice. He spoke so softly, and Cherry hated that. She wanted to be angry with him, she never wanted to trust him. She gave half of her innocence to Dallas, and she didn't want it wasted on some no-good, lying two-timer.

Cherry lowered her voice to a whisper, "No, I just need you to tell me that I can trust you." After a few seconds of silence, she looked up at his eyes. She continued to ask, "Could you just do that for me?"

Dallas pulled up his other hand and placed it on her other cheek. With his thumbs, he stroked her face gently. "You can trust me." He leaned in and kissed her lips.

Cherry pulled out from their kiss, only to lean in for more. She was so indecisive when it came to trusting Dallas. She either wanted him more than anything, or pushed him away, never wanting to look him in the eyes again. Dallas walked her over to her car. As he opened her door to let her sit down, he asked, "Why'd you drive up here, anyway?"

Cherry sat down in the driver's seat and simply answered, "I don't really know. I don't think when I'm that upset." When Dallas heard this, it sort of made him feel turned on, strangely. It was the idea that Cherry, in a way, sort of resembled him, in small doses of course. Dallas could never think straight when he was upset, and not very many people understood that. They always described him saying, "Uh-oh, he's gonna blow," or, "He's about to go insane." But to think that Cherry shared that similarity with him in certain instances, it made him feel good. It was the little things like that that made Dallas love this girl so much.

"So you're mad, huh?" he finally replied to her.

Cherry turned to look at him, "Hmph, I mean I _was._ Did you see the way she was looking at you? Thought she was about to bite your head off. Or maybe mine, I'm not quite sure." She laughed. Dallas smiled.

"I do like it up here, though," Cherry added just before she was about to turn on the car.

"Yeah? Me too." Dallas said. "So, where are you going then?"

Cherry was so over herself. She was over being a stupid girl, with stupid feelings, stupid emotions, stupid dilemmas going on and on inside her head. She was done with it. And the truth was, she didn't want to go back to that party. Not because of Shelby, but because even she knew inside that she only went to that party for Dallas. Dallas was the only one she had wanted to see. And she didn't want to go home, neither. She didn't want to go back to the lonely nights when she'd just get back from a party, and end up falling asleep while talking to a friend on the phone.

_So where are you going, then? _She heard Dallas speak. Cherry, without even thinking, got up from her seat and stood outside her car right in front of Dallas. She pulled him into her, kissing him with all she had. This took Dallas completely by surprise, but he sort of understood what she was doing. He felt her anger, and it was all wrapped up in that kiss. Cherry had so much energy, so much of something. Dallas had not known it yet, but the energy was passion. Cherry pulled him even closer to her, until her back was against her car.

Dallas got more into it as he grabbed the back of her neck, and with his other hand, grabbed her waist. His hand slowly moved up and down her waist, feeling her body hidden under that maroon colored dress. Cherry could hear slight moans exiting Dallas' mouth as he kissed her, as his hand moved up and down her leg, which Cherry had raised to wrap around Dallas' waist. "_I'm not afraid of you anymore, Dally." _Cherry said while out of breathe, as Dallas began to kiss her neck. Dallas paused at the sound of this, he looked into her eyes. She continued to look right back into his, and he suddenly began to understand what she had meant. He nodded with a raised eyebrow, and she nodded back. He began to kiss her once again, but more aggressively.

Cherry could feel Dallas reach under and lift her off the ground, and she wrapped her legs and arms around him as she continued to kiss him. He carried her over to the front of the car bumper, and gently placed her on top of the hood. Cherry then whispered into his ear, "Inside the glove compartment."

Dallas quickly walked over and leaned inside her car, opening up the glove compartment. And inside, he reached in and grabbed a condom. He rushed back over to her and began to kiss her once again. Between kisses, Dallas muttered, "Are you sure?" Cherry nodded as she once again wrapped her arms around him.

Dallas bent down slightly and rolled Cherry's dress up her legs and above her waist, exposing her underwear to the night breeze. He then gently pulled down her underwear, and slid it down and off her legs. He let it drop on the floor beside him. As he did this, Cherry unbuckled his belt and tossed it onto the floor. She untucked his shirt, pulled down his jeans, and waited for him to do the rest. Although feeling wild and reckless, Cherry felt that she was not experienced enough to do certain things.

Cherry's eyes widened as Dallas began to put the condom on. "Oh my," she slipped out as she watched him without even thinking. Cherry hadn't expected to see such a large…pant size. Who are we kidding, Cherry wasn't staring at Dallas' pant size.

Dallas began to kiss her again, and again and again. Cherry wanted so much at this very moment. She wanted Dallas to be a part of her, she wanted to be a part of him. "This might hurt a bit," he whispered as he gently kissed a soft spot on her neck, just below her ear. He stood in front of her, as Cherry sat on the hood of her car with her legs apart. Forehead to forehead, Cherry whispered, "Okay." Finally, he then slid into her, as Cherry let out a soft moan. He could feel her grip getting tighter and tighter, with her nails clasping onto his shoulders as she scrunched her eyes in pain. Dallas was beginning to realize that Cherry was not as experienced as he had thought she was; this was her first time. He had never felt anyone so small before, so tight and so innocent. He could feel her tense up, so he began to reassure her, "We can stop anytime you'd like," as he looked into her eyes.

Cherry, with no words to speak, could only shake her head. She did not want to quit Dallas yet. He began to continue sliding in and out of her, as he removed his hands from leaning on the car, and placing them on her waist, pulling her in and out of him. Cherry panted softly, and continued to softly moan in pain for having never had done this before. Dallas felt about a million sensations going through him all at once, and all he could do was look at Cherry, into her eyes, at her cheeks, at her soft lips. He began to kiss her to distract her from the pain. Cherry could feel her hair being blown by the cold wind, but her body felt warm and heated from Dallas' body coming toward hers. His warm lips hovered over hers and took over her. And soon enough, after a few minutes, she could no longer feel pain, only him inside of her.

The thought of this drove Cherry out of her mind; the fact that Dallas Winston was inside of her. She could feel him, and she began to kiss him harder. She ran her fingers through his soft hair, and her other hand continued to roam his chest. Cherry began to moan once again, but not for pain this time. She was finally starting to feel Dallas, and it felt good. "Don't stop, Dally," she whispered in his ear, out of breath. This drove Dallas crazy. His thrusts grew stronger and faster, and Cherry's sounds grew louder. Dallas began to moan, and he was getting too excited. He let out a loud, "Oh, Cherry" before he began to slow down. He lowered his voice, "We'd better stop, or I'm gonna…I'm gonna…"

Cherry didn't want to stop, but she knew what Dallas was about to say. She stopped pushing herself into him, and she took a moment to catch her breath. Dallas licked his lips and took a quick breather, while still remaining inside of her. Cherry kissed him softly on his cheek, and he allowed his hand to reach over to brush her hair behind her ears, exposing her smile more clearly. His mind tuned out as he tried to calm himself down, and then he had come to realization that Cherry was pushing herself toward and away from him, creating a thrusting motion. This made him smile, he had never seen Cherry so radiant and sexy all at once. With his finger he inched her chin up towards him and gave her another kiss. While kissing, he used both hands to grab her from behind and pull her in towards him, he loved to help bring pleasure to her.

When he had calmed down a bit more, he continued sliding, in, out, in, out. Cherry's moaning became too loud, and she suggested that they continue in her car, with the door closed. Dallas picked her up as he sat in the backseat. She closed the door behind them. With Cherry facing him on his lap, he began to kiss him passionately. She could hear him whisper a soft, "I love you, Cherry," as she restored to her position. With Cherry facing Dallas, she whispered back, "I love you more."

Dallas smiled as he laid back with his hands on her hips, watching her bounce up and down in his lap. She then leaned forward to continue to kiss him. She could hear Dallas' soft moans between her lips. "I'm all yours." she continued to whisper into his ear. Dallas let out a loud moan, and he could feel himself getting excited all over again. Cherry felt excited, too. The two couldn't help but look into each other, exploring each other's eyes. Cherry grabbed Dallas' hand and placed it onto her chest, while he continued to massage her breasts lightly at first, and then aggressively as Cherry began to act more fiercely. He finally pulled the dress off of her, and Cherry pulled off his shirt. The two began to romantically kiss each other, as Cherry remained sitting on Dallas' lap. His hands began to cup the cheeks of her bottom and pull them in towards him, letting small moans escape from his mouth as she allowed him to feel himself inside of her. He listened to her breathe. He watched her react to his every move. He watched her facial expressions change, every time she became excited. He looked at her arms and noticed every time she got goosebumps, and every time her toes curled. He loved every part of her.

Cherry caught her breath and finally got up from Dallas' lap. He took the condom off and pulled his pants back up. The two sat side by side in silence, hearing each other breathe. They looked at each other for a moment, and both of them smiled. They knew what this meant for them. Dallas knew how much Cherry had trusted him. Cherry knew that she _could _trust him.

Cherry finally leaned her head over on Dallas' shoulder, and Dallas immediately wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head.

Dallas couldn't describe what had just happened to anyone, not even himself. He didn't know what had happened at that very moment between him and Cherry; all he knew was that he had for sure fallen for the girl. Dallas had never fallen this hard, ever. After moments of just breathing, Dallas lightly spoke up, "I meant it when I said it." And as soon as Dallas said this, Cherry knew exactly what he was referring to; when he said that he loved her. Knowing this, Cherry responded, "I know, I did too." She tilted her head up to look at him, and he kissed her on the lips once more. "_My _Cherry," he lowered his voice, almost whispering, "you're beautiful."


	11. All About Shelby

After enough time had passed, Cherry had finally arrived to the conclusion as to what made her so indecisive with Dallas Winston. She did not want to love him, and she did not want to depend on him, either. She wanted to remain as she always was; Cherry Valence, a high school cheerleader who carried her own self with the help of nobody else. On the other hand, however, she had wanted him so badly. She wanted things she knew she couldn't have, or be told that she couldn't have. It was not only the restrictions and yellow caution tape that had attracted her so much to him, however. It was also how he began unveiling himself to her day by day. Even minute by minute, when they were together in one place at once.

The more Dallas had spoken to her, no matter how short, rough and simple his sentences may have been, the more she began to realize that he was a human being. He had a past, which had most definitely reflected his present. All that Cherry could ever think about was his future, with her. _What does Dallas expect from someone like me? _she couldn't help but wonder. She wondered if Dallas had felt as connected to her as she did to him. But the night that Cherry lost her virginity, that was the very night that set her mind on a crazy spin. She didn't know what she had wanted after that night had occurred. She was no longer afraid of Dallas, she was no longer in search of what he had wanted from her. She knew that all he had wanted from her was her trust, and she gave it to him that night.

Dallas could not get his mind off of the fact that Cherry was forever his, or at least it felt like she was. After driving home the next morning, all he could envision was the way her eye lids rested, shielding her from the morning sun that had masked her beautiful face.

Now it was two o'clock in the afternoon, Dallas had just woken up from a short nap he had taken while crashing at Ponyboy's house. "Lil' lover boy's face is glowin' like a jack-o-lantern!" Two-Bit chuckled as he pointed to Dallas, with a beer in hand, sitting in the chair next to his. Two-Bit, Dallas, Sodapop and Darry were sitting in the living room, surrounding the small television and watching the channel three news. The other boys laughed as they watched Dallas slowly sit up from his sleepy, slouched position. His eyes squinted, he muttered, "Wha- what? Man, what time is it?"

"What time is it? It's time for Mickey Mouse, Dal!" Two-Bit responded as he clicked the remote repeatedly to navigate the cartoon channel. Darry lightly punched Two-Bit on the shoulder, and walked over to Dallas. Dallas was slowly becoming in touch with reality, as his eyes opened more and more each moment. Darry leaned down and ruffled his fingers through Dallas' hair, patted his forehead with the back of his head, and asked, "Shit, kid. You've been doing okay? Two-Bit and Sodapop told me what's been going on. You look like you haven't slept in days."

"Probably because he hasn't." Two-Bit added.

"Nah, nah nah. I'm fine, man. Just tired, that's all." Dallas responded as he allowed his head to rest in his hands. Darry continued to look at Dallas once more, before he nodded and walked over to the kitchen. Two-Bit and Sodapop began to mess with each other, attempting to outdo each other's dance moves to a cartoon's theme song that was playing on the television. Dallas saw Darry heading over to the kitchen, and he got up in order to follow him. As Darry opened the fridge for a beer, Dallas came walking in through the kitchen entrance, and with slow, small, hesitant steps, he inched closer to Darry. Darry closed the fridge, slightly surprised to see Dallas waiting for him behind the door. Immediately Darry knew that something was on Dallas' mind.

"Ay, Darry..." Dallas mumbled under his breath, "Do you think we could talk for a quick sec?"

Darry replied, "Sure kid. You know I'm always here for ya'll. Like brothers. What can I do for you?"

Dallas wasn't exactly sure how to put his situation into words; especially into the right words for a greaser to hear. However, Darry was not like other greasers. He could have been a Soc if it weren't for his brothers. Finally, Dallas decided to just let the words loose; whatever the first thing on his mind was."Would you let anyone change you?" he asked.

Darry paused, then replied, "How do you mean? Would I let anyone change my lifestyle? Personality?"

"Uh, I guess a little of both."

"Never. I am who I am. And you are, too." Darry replied. Dallas paused, realizing that he may have been wording his question a bit incorrectly. He tried again,"Look, that's not what I meant. I mean...if you met someone that brought out a different person in you. Like, it's still you, but it's just not normal, it feels nice. Would you let them do that?"

Darry set down his beer onto the counter. He tilted his head slightly, and realized what Dallas was coming onto. "What'd you do, meet a girl or something?". At first Dallas had chuckled with a smirk in response to this. But then he had realized that what Darry had asked was nothing far from true. And suddenly it hit him; he met a girl. He met a girl? These feelings; was it all for a girl? Dallas quieted down, and finally replied, "Yeah, yeah I guess I did."

Darry smiled and placed a firm hand on Dallas' shoulder. He walked him over to the kitchen window, and began shaking his shoulder tightly."Never have I ever thought I'de see this comin' from you, Dally." he laughed.

"Yeah, yeah ,yeah..." he muttered under his breath. "I've just been wanting to ask you, 'cause I know you're practically borderline Soc. But you're here. You're loyal to family, you know? If there's anyone in this town that's honest and loyal, it's you man."

Darry nodded in silence. He looked at Dallas and replied, "If you want an answer from someone like me, the answer is yes. Let her bring out the best in you. If there's anyone in this world that can make you see the best in yourself, then it's the best you can get."

Dallas felt slightly better when hearing this from Darry. Dallas rarely looked at anyone as a role model or someone

he'd like to be. Darry was neither of these things to him, but he was definitely close; he was someone to trust when he needed help. Dallas never had trust from anyone other than the boys.

"Cool, thanks man. " Dallas replied as he glanced up at the clock on the wall. Suddenly, Darry leaned to look past Dallas, only to notice that Sodapop was talking to someone through the opened front door. He couldn't make out the face, but he could hear Two-Bit's annoying little flirtatious remarks projecting from the living room.

Dallas turned around from hearing Sodapop's voice in the kitchen doorway.

"Uhh…So we have some company!" Sodapop said with a quirky tone. He scooted to the side, allowing the petite young girl to enter the room. Dallas' eyes widened as he realized who was standing right in front of him.

Finally, he opened his mouth with distaste, "And what the hell do you want, Shelby?"

Shelby stood on her own two feet, staring Dallas up and down, and then at Darry. She knew that she was the type of girl that guys could never resist, and that was exactly the problem with her; she was stuck up. She wore black high-waisted jeans, a yellow, buttoned and collared shirt, and wore her hair up in a ponytail. One thing that drove the boys crazy was how long her hair was, it reached all the way down to her size two hips. Her voluptuous curves and yet petite weight drove greasers mad, but Dallas had enough of Shelby.

Dallas and Shelby had gone back a few years, when he had just arrived in town. A friend of a friend had brought him to a kickback that Shelby was having; this was where he had first met Shelby.

Dallas was lighting up a cigaret and chatting with a few guys that he had just met; there was Stumpy, who was nicknamed after his five-foot-two height and broad shoulders, Ren, who knew anyone and everyone around town, and Jessie, who was also called Speedy Jessie. The guy talked so fast, you could barely understand a word he was saying.

"Listen, Dal-You mind if I call you Dal?" Ren conversed with him.

"Yeah sure." Dallas responded. He wasn't so into this town. He couldn't understand how people could possibly live in Oklahoma when it was hardly nothing compared to New York.

Ren continued, "I like you, you know? You got a girl out here yet, man? 'Cause I got someone I think you'd really like to meet. The chick who lives here, you'd really like her. And I mean _really, really. _" He leaned in towards Dallas and nudged him with his elbow. Dallas couldn't help but think that Ren was some wannabe know-it-all, always trying to show off his social skills and what not. Dallas hated characters like Ren. He didn't seem real. Someone like Johnny Cade, he was real to Dallas. Johnny felt certain ways about certain things, he didn't go around doing favors and impressing other people.

Dallas watched as Ren waved over Shelby, who was wearing a high-waisted skirt with a red buttoned blouse tucked underneath.

"Dal, I'de like you to meet-"

"I'm Shelby." Shelby reached out her small hand for a shake, Dallas just stared back at her. Ren smiled, only because he knew exactly what Dallas was feeling; he was overwhelmed by Shelby's amazing body and looks. Shelby continued to snap as she chewed her gum repeatedly, waiting for a response. Dallas just took another drag at his cigaret.

Shelby pulled back her hand, "You must be new here, huh? What's your name?"

Dallas blew out his smoke, "Yeah, yeah sure I'm new. I'm Dallas."

Ren, Stumpy and Jessie began to drift and walk away. Ren could sense that he had set off a new discussion between the two. He winked at Dallas and walked away.

"So how old are you anyway?" Dallas continued. He thought that Shelby looked awfully young, and he didn't want to embarrass himself by hitting on anyone too young.

"I'm eighteen. Why, you think I'm younger?"

"I don't know."

Dallas and Shelby ended up talking for the rest of the event, discussing what the deal was around this town, and who was who. At about one in the morning, Shelby conducted a plan.

"Come with me, Dallas." she said.

"Wha-…Huh?" Dallas responded. At this time, he had drank one too many beers. He was not beyond drunk, he just couldn't think.

"Stay over tonight, yeah?" she flipped back his hair from his face. Dallas smirked as he looked right back at her and nodded.

Shelby grabbed his hand and walked inside the house through her back door, and slammed the door shut. Dallas continued to follow her into her bedroom, and she closed the door behind him. He leaned with his back against the door, as she walked towards him.

"I think you're a little tipsy, Dally." she giggled.

Dallas raised an eyebrow, "I think you're hot as hell."

Shelby grabbed his hand again and led him over to her bed.

"I've been hearing a lot about you," Shelby said, "and I've been wanting to meet you."

"Oh yeah? What'd you hear?" Dallas sat down in front of her, as she continued to stand in front of her bed.

Shelby began to slide her index finger down the center of Dallas' chest. "Just some things…" she continued.

She began to whisper into his ear, "I heard that you're nothing like the rest of these bozo's in town." Dallas was turned on already, so he went on ahead and pulled her onto his lap. He then responded, "Nah, I'm not. So, sweetheart, are the rest of the girls here as hot as you or what?"

"I don't think so!" she laughed aloud. They began to kiss, almost as aggressive as snakes snapping at one another. Dallas rolled her onto her bed, leaning on top of her. As he opened his mouth and continued to kiss her, Shelby took off Dallas' pants and returned to stand in front of the bed. She then pulled up her skirt and bent over the side of her bed, almost as if she were in a rush. Dallas accepted the invitation with pleasure, and the night had officially begun.

Between the breaths and pantings, Dallas mumbled, "I'm terrible with names…"

Shelby quickly responded, "Say my name, it's Shelby."

That very night was the night that Dallas had received his welcome gift. The only problem was, Dallas hadn't expected anything to come out of it other than pleasure. Shelby was not exactly miss prim and proper either, but for some reason she had expected more from Dallas. She wanted more out of him, not just one night to remember. After this very night, Dallas had never wanted to see Shelby again.

That was the weird thing that Dallas had felt about Shelby; he had disrespected her so much, but only because he disrespected the fact that she let others disrespect her. Confusing? But when he looked at Shelby, he saw fitted skirts. He saw short shirts, he saw long and wavy hair, he saw luscious lips, he saw cleavage. When he looked at Cherry, however, he saw beautiful eyes. He saw pale, sparkling skin. He saw her nicely shaped legs coming out from underneath her pleaded skirt. He saw her smile, the way she laughed. He saw her fiery hair. He saw the amazing way that she'd look back at him, allowing her eyes to rummage inside his. And above all things, he felt. He couldn't feel anything with Shelby.

Dallas continued to stare back at Shelby in the quiet and now calmed kitchen, where Shelby chewed her obnoxious gum and stared right back. "Came to apologize." she finally spoke up.

"Yeah? For what?" Dallas smirked back. Darry looked at the two staring furiously at on another, and then signaled to Two-Bit and Sodapop that an exit was needed. The three quickly and casually stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Shelby sighed, "I'm sorry for pissin' off your little girlfriend over at the party last night."

"Yeah, yeah. So is that all you came here to say?"

"Hey, don't blame me for not being able to let go of us."

Dallas rolled his eyes, "Wha- are you fucking kidding me? Shelby there ain't no _us, _quit talkin' like that."

Shelby snapped, "Not until you quit actin' like we only lasted a night! Fuck Dally, you're really screwed up in the head. You and I both know that something was on between us."

"Bullshit!" Dallas yelled. "Now leave me the hell alone, would ya?"

Shelby was not exactly lying, either. For about two weeks, Dallas had introduced Shelby to others a friend, but treated her as something more. Although Dallas thought Shelby was a great girl to hang around and talk to, he began to realize that she wasn't exactly honest. She would expose herself to other greasers, offer herself to other guys, and even talk dirt about Dallas to some of her friends. If there was anyone that Dallas disliked most, it was two-timers and two-faced people. Shelby, on the other hand, only wanted attention. She loved feeling the jealousy of other girls towards her when she was seen walking arm and arm with Dallas Winston. But she still wanted more, and that was her problem.

Shelby paused, and then turned to walk away from Dallas as he continued to smoke a cigaret in the kitchen. She immediately walked out the door without saying a single word. Sodapop and Two-Bit looked at each other with faint smiles on their faces. Dallas took one more drag of his cigaret, and muttered to himself, "Crazy broad.".


	12. A Trust Forever Broken

As Two-Bit and Sodapop watched Shelby fly out the front door, they stared back at each other, jaws opened wide, and glanced back at Dallas. Dallas made his way back into the living room and sat on an arm of a chair. "This broad, man. Somethin's loose with her, got some loose bolts in her head." Dallas muttered toward the guys, as if he knew they were awaiting an explanation.

"I didn't know you still talked to her, Dal." Sodapop responded. Dallas took a drag from his cigaret and nodded. He knew that Shelby had never really been in her right mind, but she still made him upset, the way she acted towards him. He always thought that Shelby took him for a fool, acting so open and caring around him, and then turning around and bad-mouthing him for the others to hear. Although he had always felt partially upset and partially careless about it all, he sort of felt sorry for how pathetic she was.

Dallas drove up to Cherry's house, hoping that she would still be there during the day. He hadn't spoken to her since morning, however, they had barely talked. He got out of his car, walked his famous tough-guy strut over to her porch, and rang the doorbell.

After only a moment, Cherry opened her door in surprise, smiling as she saw Dallas standing in her doorway. "Hey," Dallas raised an eyebrow. Cherry was glowing, loving every movement that Dallas made, and smiling at every sound that he had spoken. It was the contrast between the two that made the relationship its own; there was something about the way Cherry had looked at Dallas, and the way Dallas looked back at her. There was something about the way Dallas had acted towards her. It was almost as if every move they had made towards each other was unexpected, or of some sort of rare expectation.

"Come inside." she finally responded, tilting her head to motion towards the inside of her house.

And that's exactly how it went on. For days and days, Dallas and Cherry grew closer and closer as the days went on. Cherry, every now and then, would go out with Dallas and the boys; and Dallas loved this. He loved a girl who could take on the quirky and stupid tactics of him and his friends. Although Dallas had rarely possessed the time to do so, he would also tag along with Cherry when going out with her friends. And by friends, of course, we mean the friends who accepted the fact that Cherry was going out with a greaser. This meant Marcia and about two of her other friends. Dallas had always felt a bit discouraged when Cherry had suggested bringing him along with her to hang out with the girls; he often grew annoyed of the conversations that carried on when he tagged along.

* * *

><p>"So he didn't even bother calling me, which is what I assumed would happen. Dallas, where are the gentleman around her nowadays?" Michelle asked as she rambled to the girls.<p>

Dallas slightly jumped and sat up straight in his seat, as if he woke up from a day dream and responded, "What? Where are the what?"

"Nobody 'round here acts like a gentleman anymore."

Sophia laughed, "Michelle, I don't think you're talking to the right person."

Dallas cringed through his teeth and lifted his chin slightly, staring at the two as they giggled. Dallas never possessed any desire to put himself through these types of situations.

One thing about Cherry's friend, Michelle, was that she never took hints very well. More specifically, hints that pertained to whether or not someone was becoming upset or annoyed due to a discussion topic. Of course, with this trait occupying a large portion of Michelle's personality, she continued on.

"So Dally, where are you taking this one tonight?" she asked as she nudged Cherry next to her. "There better be a good reason why you both have to leave early."

Dallas looked back at her from glancing at the clock. "Just my place. Is that a good enough reason?" Cherry could sense some tension within their booth. She grew slightly annoyed that Dallas was already beginning to have an attitude towards her friend. But at the same time, she was also annoyed that Michelle would immediately start acting like a smart-ass towards Dallas. She knew that Michelle was already aware of how short-tempered Dallas was.

But Michelle didn't stop.

" You know," she leaned forward at the table as she raised an eye brow, "I've had a decent amount of boyfriends in my years…". Cherry began to look back and fourth between Michelle and Dallas, waiting for reactions. As each word passed through Michelle's mouth, she could hear the time bomb ticking inside her head, waiting for Dallas to blow.

Finally, Michelle dropped the bomb. She looked back up from the table into Dallas' eyes and spoke, "Some of them were assholes, and some of them were gentlemen….But at least they all took me places."

Sophia's jaw dropped as she smiled, and Cherry immediately scolded, "Michelle!" Cherry tried to force out a laugh as an attempt to imply that Michelle was only joking, even though she probably wasn't.

Dallas continued to stare into Michelle's eyes. He remained serious, picking at his teeth with his tongue, twirling a nickel between his fingers. There was a very long pause, which was interrupted once Dallas finally spoke up. "Are you done?" he asked through his teeth.

Michelle smiled, "No hard feelings, Dally. I'm just saying, as a friend of Cherry's, I want what's best for her, you know?" She continued to laugh as she looked back at Cherry, who was flashing her the "why-did-you-do-that" face.

"Yeah," Dallas narrowed his eyes and nodded, as he began to exit the booth to stand up. With all girls looking up at him, he took out his wallet, slammed down the money to pay for his meal onto the table, and muttered towards Michelle, "Don't call me _Dally_." He walked out of the restaurant, not saying a word to Cherry.

"Don't let the fool change you, Cherry." Michelle said as she took out a lighter from her coat pocket. Michelle, one of Cherry's more reckless types of friends, was also a Soc. She had dated a few greasers in her past, but none of them were as extreme as she had viewed Dallas Winston. Michelle, Sophia and Marcia had now arrived at Cherry's house from the restaurant; even though, Cherry had felt hesitant towards allowing Michelle and Sophia into her house due to causing tension between her and Dallas. Cherry grew a slight frown on her face when hearing Michelle's words of advice. She finally went ahead and responded, "And why would I let him do that?"

"Because you're like that." Michelle snapped back.

"I am not! Besides, how would he even change me? It's not like he's trying to."

Sophia decided to cut in, "Cherry, have you seen the girls that Dallas had gone out with before you? It's insane. Like that Shelby girl, you even said it yourself. She's constantly all over him. She's with those greasers twenty-four seven. She's one of them. You, on the other hand, are not."

Michelle nodded in agreement, "Uh-huh. It's only a matter of time before Dallas is gonna start shaping you into one of those-"

"STOP!" Cherry interrupted. She hated what she was hearing, and she was sick and tired of constantly having to defend Dallas every single day.

Cherry crossed her arms as she sat on her bed, glancing out her bedroom window. Michelle and Sophia were sitting on the floor in front of her, and Marcia sat cross-legged in the chair next to the bed.

Finally, Cherry continued to explain, "If you really have something to say about Dallas, then deal with it on your own, because I'm sick of having to explain this to you. Just because he's had a past, it doesn't mean you can go on every day about it like it's your business." The girls grew silent. Michelle shrugged her shoulders and began to light herself a new cigaret. Cherry gave her an odd look, "Michelle? What are you doing?"

"Huh?" she stared back at Cherry.

"You can't smoke in here, my parents will be home soon."

Michelle continued to blow smoke as she stared into Cherry's eyes. She had a possessed look on her face, like she couldn't find out exactly who Cherry was. Ever since she had started seeing Dallas, Michelle and Sophia had noticed that Cherry had been becoming more and more careless of her decisions, including taking advice from her fellow peers. Michelle hated the idea of dependence, and it killed her to see that Cherry was doing nothing short of living up to Dallas' expectations.

On the other hand, however, Cherry's perspective was of an entirely different aspect. In reality, Cherry had dodged many bullets in which Dallas could have changed her immensely. Dallas had taken her to party's, bars, friends' houses, you name it. But Cherry Valence was still Cherry Valence. She was as true to herself as she could ever be. And the truth was, Dallas wanted Cherry, no one else. That was what made her so different from the rest, the fact that she never changed for anybody else's expectations.

Michelle was tired of hearing Cherry's annoyed tone and attitude, and she finally lost it. "Look," she stated, "if you're gonna be like this, then I'm not stopping you anymore. I'm out." She got up and made her way towards the doorway of Cherry's bedroom.

"Uh, Michelle, wait up?" Marcia spoke up.

Michelle turned around, "Yeah."

"Well, you were kind of my ride here. Mine and Sophia's."

Michelle only gave a slight nod, and the two were out of there in no time along with her. Cherry sat on her bed, feeling annoyed and furious simultaneously.

As Michelle and the girls exited out the front yard, they were surprised to see Dallas pulling up in his car, parking in Cherry's driveway. Michelle did not bother to look over at Dallas, she had enough of dealing with both him and Cherry. Dallas completely disregarded the fact that they were there, and walked right past Michelle's car. The girls looked back at him as he walked towards her porch to ring the doorbell.

Cherry could not help but feel sick to her stomach, thinking merely of the fact that her friends had literally walked out on her. As she heard her doorbell, she walked over to her door and opened it, only surprised to see that it was Dallas. The two remained silent in reaction to seeing each other's faces once again. Cherry stepped aside, motioning towards him to enter. As she closed the door behind him, she noticed Dallas almost pacing around the living room, picking up picture frames and looking at them, then putting them back. It looked as if he was trying to keep himself occupied as a distraction from being so upset. Cherry would have been sure that Dallas was upset, if only she hadn't noticed that his face remained calm.

He picked up another photo off of the shelf by her window and looked at it. "This you?" he asked, holding up a photo of Cherry when she was five years old. He could see that Cherry had the same exact face, only mature of course. But the way he saw her face in the photograph, it made him feel different.

Cherry nodded, "Yes.". Dallas then managed to allow a small grin form through his lips, then put the photo down as he returned to his normal expression. Cherry walked over to Dallas and began to wrap her arms around him. He then allowed his arms to wrap back around her. "What, something' wrong?" he asked. Cherry continued to hug him, her face pressed against his chest. She said nothing.

"Huh?" he continued to ask, then he let his head down and kissed her on her forehead. "Ay, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Cherry said, slightly annoyed. She was still upset from the way Michelle had been acting earlier. Dallas hated when people were so obvious when lying about how they felt, and of course being who he was, he could see right through Cherry when she said this. He immediately pulled himself away with his arms still around her and said, "Ay, don't get wise, you tell me what's botherin' you."

"I said it's nothing, alright? Don't worry about it!" she raised her voice slightly. Cherry then turned around to walk away from Dallas. Cherry wanted to tell him everything she had felt. Se wanted to tell him that she didn't believe in anything that Michelle had said to him, and that he had every right to walk out of that restaurant earlier that afternoon. She wanted him to know that he didn't need to take her places, because all she had wanted was him.

"You're mad I walked out on you and your little friends, aren't ya?" he finally said as he watched her walk towards her couch. "No," Cherry quickly responded, "I just wish that things would work out on both sides of the fence. It's easy for me to talk and converse with _your friends_."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dallas asked.

"Nothing, I'm not saying it's you. I'm saying-"

"Maybe it's because my friends aren't fuckin' stuck-up Soc's, you'd ever think of that? Maybe that's why they're so easy to talk to?" Dallas cut in.

"My friends are not stuck-up! They're just have shallow judgement, just because of your past. They'll get used to it." Cherry felt like the discussion was going nowhere. She knew that Dallas had already become upset by now.

Dallas raised an eyebrow and sarcastically said, "Oh, so I have a past? Tell me, Cherry, what do they know about my past? Did they write my autobiography, too?"

"No Dallas," Cherry became more annoyed, "just the stuff about Shelby, and they think that I'm not acting myself."

Dallas nearly cringed at the sound of Shelby's name. _You've gotta be fucking kidding me_, he thought to himself.

Cherry had noticed that Dallas was not responding to this statement for a long time, so she decided to face him once again. She got up from the couch and walked towards Dallas, who at this time was standing and facing one of her glass shelves that held her childhood photos. She stood behind him, hesitant to mention anymore about what her friends had thought.

Then, she heard Dallas' voice, low leveled and calm. "You're still upset about Shelby." Cherry's heart pounded as she heard this, only because she did not know how to respond.

"Not upset, more like uncomfortable." she replied.

"Yeah, how come?"

Cherry took a few seconds to think about this. What was she so uncomfortable for? Clearly Dallas was not interested in Shelby at the party, but the stories she had heard, all of the stories; what was it that made her feel so insecure? She knew exactly what it was. She knew that clearly she was not Dallas' type to begin with. Shelby, however, was.

Finally, she came clean. Cherry sighed, "Look, I just-I know I'm not you're type of girl. The fact that Shelby is just makes me feel-"

Dallas interrupted Cherry with an angry grunt, "Stop saying that fucking name, would ya?"

"She's just a living reminder that I'm not good enough for you, and it annoys me."

Dallas hear Cherry's voice, but he could not stop thinking about Shelby. All he could really hear in his head was the way Shelby had that obnoxious sweet-talking voice that she turned on when the boys were around. He could smell her overpowering cheap perfume. He could visualize her standing behind him in her small shirt and short skirt, nagging him all of the time. The sound of Shelby's name brought her into the room with him, and it made him furious.

Cherry continued, "The only reason I distance myself from guys like you is because I don't want to change for anyone else, and I never plan to."

Dallas, still turned away, raised his voice. "Look Red, stop doin' this alright? Stop." This upset Cherry a little. The boy could have had at least the decency to listen to what she had to say from the heart. She almost forgot of the day when she had first met him, the day she realized that Dallas was far from a gentleman.

"Wow, are we back to 'Red' again? And stop what, talking? Dallas, you're being a real prick today, you know that?"

Dallas was losing it. "Just stop talking for like two minutes, just two fucking minutes, alright?"

Cherry grew more upset, more defensive of her own feelings. She was mad. She couldn't stand the fact that Dallas wasn't even looking at her. She walked around to stand beside him, and got right in his face.

"Fuck you, Dallas. You want to treat girls like this, go back with Shelby." And just like that, Dallas lost it. As soon as the name Shelby ran through Cherry's mouth, a virus ran through Dallas like no other. The image of Cherry rummaged through the corner of his eye as she stood on his left side. All under one second, Dallas could feel the blood rushing through his veins, the anger going to his head, the pounding voice of Cherry through his left ear; it was like he was hypnotized, or under a rotten spell.

He heard her words, _Fuck you, Dallas. _And he then heard, _Shelby. _And just like that, like a reflex, Dallas reached to grab Cherry's shoulders, and pushed her right into the shelf in front of them. Like a flashed image, he watched Cherry fall back into the shelf as the glass began to shatter. After he had blinked his eyes once, he had suddenly realized the horror of what he had done. Terrified, he stared down at Cherry, who was on the floor, her arms and her face slightly cut with glass.

Cherry could not even believe what had just happened. She tried to talk, but her voice shook. She tried to move, but she was afraid. All this time she knew that Dallas, no matter what, would never hurt her. Now she didn't know what to believe anymore.

Dallas immediately said, "Cherry, oh God, Cherry." He bent down on his knees and lightly grabbed one of her arms to see how badly the cuts were. His eyes began to water.

Cherry only looked at Dallas' face. She couldn't quite make out what was going on, she had been completely caught off guard. With tears leaking from her eyes, she became furious. She was hurt. Cherry finally managed to raise her voice, "Don't-don't touch me." She quickly got up, and amped with anger she snapped, "Get out."

Dallas panicked, "Cherry, I'm so, so, _so _sorry. I don't even…I don't even know what just happened."

"Get the _hell _out of my house, _now!_" she screamed. Dallas slowly backed away towards her door. He could barely speak. Did he just hit Cherry Valence? The girl that he fought for? The girl that he had promised to protect for as long as he lived? His heart suddenly grew heavier, and a pain formed at his side. He almost felt as if his heart was falling through his stomach, and he was about to throw it up. He quickly opened the door and stormed out. Dallas had never felt so confused, so upset with himself; he was so ashamed and filled with guilt.

He stood outside of Cherry's door as he continued to pace back and fourth alongside her porch. Finally, he knocked on her door.

"Cherry," he spoke aloud through the door, "Please, please don't make me leave, let's talk about this. Please?"

Cherry stood in her living room, leaning against the back of her couch. She listened to Dallas' voice intruding through her front door, and it made her feel ill. Her cheeks were bleeding slightly, and there were still small flakes of glass wedged into the sides of her arms.

"Cherry!" Dallas raised his voice, but this time in a concerning manner. "Please, please open the door. I didn't mean to hurt you, baby. I didn't. Somethin's not right with me, you know that?"

Cherry began to cry. And for the first time since after Cherry and Dallas' first date, she had genuinely felt frightened by Dallas Winston. Just hearing the repeated knocks at her door made her shake, and she began to cry even harder when realizing that their trust, their trust that they had worked so hard to build over the weeks; it was all broken, ruined.

Dallas paused, and then realized that Cherry was never going to speak to him again, ever. He backed away from the door and ran. He ran, and ran, and ran, until he had made his way all the way down the hill towards the busy streets. He immediately went straight for the pay phone he had seen on the street corner. _You're a scumbag, you worthless piece of shit _Dallas thought to himself as he picked up the phone, dropped in fifty cents, and dialed.

"I'de like to report an accident, a girl's been hurt." he scratched through the phone with his raspy, weakened voice.

Cherry wiped her tears, only to notice the sound of ambulance sirens leaking through her opened windows. As she peaked outside her window, she saw an ambulance truck pull into her drive way.

And Dallas' car was gone.


	13. The Dallas She Had Missed

Cherry had numerous amounts of thoughts running through her mind; thoughts about Dallas, thoughts about who she was. Cherry wasn't the girl who let anyone hurt her. Not emotionally, and definitely not physically. But Dallas did hurt her, emotionally and physically. And to think that someone like Dallas could easily walk into her life and break both of her rules like this, it drove her crazy. Not in a good way, like the way Dallas used to drive her crazy with his confusing signals.

Cherry had hated the fact that the one time she had the one opportunity to put herself out there and resist from distancing herself from another boy, this had to happen. She had to get hurt the first time. She hated the thought of Dallas with his smirk, and his chuckle, and the way he blew smoke. She hated the way he walked, the way he narrowed his eyes, the way he smiled, the way he ran his hands through her hair. She hated the face on him as she looked up at him from the floor, when he had just hit her; so heartbroken and fake, so pathetic. And his long leather jacket. she hated that, too. And his necklace.

His necklace. She was still wearing the necklace. His stupid, stupid necklace. She touched the pendant object that draped around her small neck, and as she held it tightly, she thought back to when he had first hung it around her. She envisioned him leaning close towards her, giving her the necklace from his neck, along with his trust. _Yeah, so much for that _Cherry had thought. Dallas didn't deserve to be worn around Cherry's neck. Angrily, she took it off and threw it on her dresser.

At this time, Cherry was all bandaged up on her cheeks and arms. When the ambulance came, she had thought that a neighbor called complaining about noise. Maybe someone had heard the argument from next door and suspected it was violence. But Cherry had soon found out that she was wrong. She remembered hearing one paramedic telling her, "A call came in from what seemed to be a young teenaged boy, and he stated that there was an accident here. Would you mind telling us what happened?"

Cherry did not know why, but she refused to tell the truth. Instead, she shook her head and spoke softly, "Oh, yes, I'm not quite sure what happened. I was talking to my friend, he was the one that called you, and I became drowsy." She glanced over towards the other paramedic, who was wrapping a bandage around her arm. She continued, "And suddenly, I had tripped and fallen right onto one of those shelves over there. He panicked and wanted to call an ambulance, but he didn't know where the phone was."

Cherry couldn't quite grasp the reason as to why she had lied for Dallas. She thought to herself that maybe she was embarrassed, or perhaps too ashamed of letting a boy hurt her like that. It was not that she was lying for Dallas; she was lying for herself. Now, two days had passed, and Cherry was sitting in her bedroom. With all of these thoughts running through her head, she began to lay down in her bed and cry. She could no longer bare even looking at herself in a mirror, because all she could see was a fool. Just like she had called herself the very first time she had thought of Dallas, a stupid fool.

For some reason, Cherry grew the urge to talk to someone, anyone. She sat up, picked up the phone, and dialed Marcia's number. Marcia was the only one she knew would understand. She knew that Marcia would never be the one to say "I told you so." She wasn't like that.

"Hello?" Marcia answered.

"Ma-Marcia?" Cherry responded softly.

"Cherry! I heard you had an accident, are you okay?"

Of course at this time, Marcia had only known that Cherry was hurt. She was not aware of the cause of this accident.

"Yes, well, no. I don't know, that's why I wanted to call you." Cherry sniffed between her words, and Marcia softened her voice as she had come to realization that Cherry was crying.

"Oh Cherry, please talk to me. Tell me what's wrong?"

"It was Dallas, Marcia."

Marcia did not respond. There was a long pause, and then Marcia finally spoke up, "Wha-what?"

"It was Dallas. Dallas hit me. Please, please do not tell _anyone._"

Marcia could not believe what she had heard. She immediately grew sympathy for Cherry, and wanted to help with everything she had.

"Oh my gosh. Are, are you okay? Do you need something? Do you want someone to talk to you, or him?" Marcia asked.

"No, no no. It's just…" Cherry could hardly finish her sentence. Her words felt cold and slow. It became too hard to swallow. Finally, she continued, "The thing that hurts the most is knowing how worthless I must be to him. I feel like a put so much work into nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Dallas had tried calling Cherry's house several times throughout each day. He left voicemails, and then called again, and again, and again.

"Cherry, please, I need to talk to you. Please." he'd leave on her voicemail. He drove by her house each morning, hoping that he'd run into her. Finally, after about a week, he knew that it was hopeless. Cherry had no plans set to ever see or talk to Dallas again.

"So then why aren't you with Cherry no more Dal?" Ponyboy asked as he sat down on the arm of a chair in Dallas' room. Dallas, Ponyboy and Johnny were in Dallas' bedroom. After mentioning it to the guys, the two couldn't help but want to ask Dallas for more detail.

"God damn it, I told you Pony, it's complicated. Aight?" Dallas sounded irritated. He hated even saying the words to himself. _I hit Cherry. _He couldn't think of it, and even when he tried, he definitely couldn't say it. Johnny asked with gentle concern, "What, d'you guys get into some sort of banter with each other? C'mon, you can tell us anythin' Dal. Honest."

"Jesus Christ-" Dallas stood up.

"Alright, alright." Ponyboy lifted his arms up with caution, looking up at Dallas. "It's cool."

Dallas paused as he looked down at Ponyboy, then at Johnny. He walked over to his dresser and opened it. As he began rummaging through his drawers in search of a clean shirt, he began to think. He felt an enormous amount of guilt, building a brick wall inside of his chest. He almost felt as if he could fall to the floor from not being able to carry the weight of his heavy heart. And finally, he knew. He knew he had to tell someone. Cherry did not deserve this; Dallas deserved to be known for what he had done to the girl.

He grabbed one of his shirts, and after a long, quiet pause forming as he changed clothes, he sat down on his bed. He leaned forward, allowing the weight of his elbows to land on his knees, holding his head. He took a few moments to gather his thoughts, ruffled his hand through his hair, and bit the bullet.

"I hit her. I hit Cherry."

Silence filled the room so fast, and Dallas could feel the other two glaring at him as he continued to stare into his lap. Ponyboy allowed his eyebrows to sink, he was mad; no, he was furious. Ever since Ponyboy had met Cherry, he had always had a soft spot for her. He had already gotten over the fact that she was in love with Dallas by now, but this, this was the last straw for him. Ponyboy couldn't help but think to himself, _Never would I ever abuse such a sweet girl like Cherry. _Ponyboy would never hit a girl at all. The minute he heard this, he stood up from his chair.

"You _what?_" he raised his voice. Johnny quickly got up and placed his hands on Ponyboy's shoulders.

"Hey, hey c'mon now. Let's take it easy." Johnny calmed Ponyboy down.

Dallas looked up, only to see how upset Ponyboy was. "No, Johnny I mean he's right, man. I don't know what the fuck's been goin' on with me, man. But I can't shake this." Dallas continued as he got up and walked back to his dresser and looked himself in the mirror.

Ponyboy had realized that there was no use in fighting Dallas, because he had agreed with him, which was not something that he was necessarily expecting from Dallas. If this were the normal Dallas talking, he would have responded with something such as, _What'd you say to me? _or _You getting wise with me now?_.

Ponyboy and Johnny watched the back of Dallas, as Dallas continued to stand at his dresser looking down. Then, they heard something that Dallas had muttered in a lowered voice.

"It was like it wasn't even her that I was hitting. It's like-it's like something triggered in me or somethin', you know? And now everything's screwed up. I screwed everythin' up."

"Have you tried making amends? Talking to her?" Johnny asked.

"Nah, she won't talk to me. And why would she wanna, anyway?" Dallas said. His voice made him sound like he had never felt so bummed. Cherry was the one and only girl that Dallas had ever felt like this for, and now it was ruined. "Fuckin' blew it." Dallas continued to mutter to himself. His hands clenched into fists. He continued to look down at his hands, which were now pressed against the top of his dresser. He then looked up at the mirror in front of him. He was disgusted; just seeing the image of his own wretched self. He saw nothing but a monster.

"Fuck!" Dallas screamed, and then punched his fist into the mirror in front of him.

Ponyboy and Johnny flinched at the sound of the mirror shattering. Startled by such noise, they both stood up and looked at each other, signaling towards one another with their eyes of what they should do. They didn't know whether to help Dallas, or to let him be. They knew that Dallas had never wanted help from anyone else, and they were right. Dallas always insisted on fixing his own problems, which was mostly the reason why he had never found the need to explain to anyone else how he felt.

Dallas had punched and broken his mirror several times, then threw the frame to the floor. His knuckles began to bleed, but he couldn't feel a thing. He only felt anger. He walked with a fast pace towards his bedroom door, as Ponyboy and Johnny continued to look at him.

"What's goin' on? Are we gettin' outta this place, or what?" Dallas asked the both of them with a frustrated tone. He slammed open his door and walked down the stairs. Johnny looked at Ponyboy, and they collectively both proceeded to get up and catch up with Dallas.

Marcia took Cherry out for lunch one day at the Dingo. Cherry had previously refused to tag along with Marcia when visiting Two-Bit, only because she didn't want to find herself running into Dallas anytime soon. Marcia, of course, understood. What Cherry didn't know, however, was that they were also meeting Michelle at the Dingo as well. Michelle was the last person that Cherry wanted to see, she was not ready for interrogation. In fact, she wanted the whole thing to be over with, the whole 'Dallas thing'. The quicker it flew by, the faster Cherry could get on with her life; the faster she could move forward, or at least try to.

As the two of them walked inside, they could see Michelle in the far corner, waiting to welcome them. Michelle possessed a worrying look upon her face as she stood up from the booth while watching the two walk in. As they approached the booth, Michelle immediately grabbed Cherry for a hug.

"Cherry, baby. Are you okay? How have you been?" she said with a sweet and assuring voice. However, it wasn't so assuring for Cherry. She knew Michelle, and only she could tell that Michelle didn't mean a word she said.

"I'm fine. I'm just trying to forget about it, I mean it's over." Cherry responded after pulling away. The three of the girls sat down, and Michelle made sure that she sat directly across from Cherry, so she couldn't take an eye off of her. Cherry was beginning to feel bothered after noticing that Michelle had been glaring at her arms. She wished that she would at least had the decency to keep out of other people's business and learn to occupy herself with something else.

After having a surprisingly normal conversation, Michelle excused herself to go to the restroom. She was getting slightly annoyed of how oblivious and naive Cherry had seemed to have been acting, and she felt almost as if she were about to burst. As she walked over to the restroom, taking her time, she noticed a group of greasers getting ready to walk into the restaurant. But there was one greaser in particular that she had her eye on.

The greaser's walk had a certain stern hop to it. He walked with purpose, like he had a place to go. He had two greasers following slightly behind him, and he walked with one hand in his pocket, and one holding a cigaret. You could've guessed it yourself, it was Dallas Winston. Here he was, the Dallas Winston, coming into the Dingo with his two pals, Ponyboy and Johnny. Michelle stopped in her place, jaw dropped to the floor, as she eyed the three waltzing through the doorway.

Dallas came in through the door with only food on his mind. Although, he still could not shake the thought of Cherry. Ponyboy took a whiff of the place and sighed, "Sure smells good in here, I'm starved."

Johnny laughed, "You better believe it, Pony. Feel like I haven't eaten in days." The three continued to walk towards the menu stand, when Johnny suddenly made a small discovery while eying around the place.

"Hey, isn't that Marcia?" Johnny asked. Ponyboy and Dallas quickly turned their heads to look towards the direction that Johnny was looking. Dallas narrowed his eyes, and then froze. He could faintly see Marcia, however his eyes shifted slightly to the right, and there she sat. Cherry, who was sitting and talking right next to Marcia, was right in Dallas' sight. Dallas continued to stare, he couldn't move.

He could see her smiling, laughing. She was laughing. She was happy. Was Cherry already over Dallas? He couldn't help but wonder this to himself. He could feel a heavy anchor weighing down his chest as he continued to watch her. He could see her scratches from where he was standing, and it broke his heart. But the fact that Cherry was already moving forward, just like her normal, tough self; it made Dallas think. _This girl ain't no regular, _Dallas thought. Cherry was strong, and she didn't need anyone by her side. Not Dallas, not anyone. And that was what made Dallas feel sort of sad inside. He could tell that she no longer needed him. The only problem was, he needed her.

"I'm gonna talk to her. You guys find a place to sit, alright?" Dallas said to the boys, without taking his eyes off of Cherry. He began to walk toward Cherry's table, when suddenly he felt a pull at his arm. The pull whipped him around, only for him to notice that it was Michelle who had grabbed onto him.

"The hell's a matter with you?" Dallas snapped as he pulled his arm back. Michelle stared back at him with evil eyes.

"Uh-uh. You're not getting anywhere near that girl." she snapped back.

Dallas opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. Who was this girl? He looked back at Cherry, then back at her. Finally, he spoke once again.

"What are you, a friend of her's or somethin'?" he responded. Michelle did not want Cherry seeing Dallas anywhere near at this time, so she nodded her head towards the door, and they both walked outside of the restaurant.

The two of them walked around the back, and finally stopped by a large, abandoned dumpster. Dallas leaned against the side of a fence nearby, and Michelle stood directly in front of him.

"So, so how is she?" Dallas asked.

Michelle glared at him like he was stupid. "How's who?" she said. There was a slight pause, and Dallas' eyes looked left and right like he was confused of what she had meant by 'that girl.' Was she even talking about Cherry? Was she even Cherry's friend? _Who the hell is this broad? _he thought to himself.

Michelle sarcastically continued, "Oh, you mean _Cherry_? The chick you smashed into a fucking glass shelf? Oh, yeah, she's doing great. She's ecstatic. How are you, dumb fuck?"

Dallas wanted to slap this girl silly for what she had just called him. But he knew that she was right, he knew he deserved to be called every word in the book. Chances are, it wouldn't even be enough punishment for what he had done to poor Cherry. Instead, Dallas gave a slight nod as he blew out smoke from his cigaret.

"Will you let me talk to her?" he continued.

She immediately responded with a cold, "No." Dallas was becoming a little annoyed. He didn't need permission from some friend of a friend, especially to talk to the girl he had fallen in love with.

"Well who the fuck are you to say anything? I'm talkin' to her. See ya." he tossed his cigaret over to the dumpster, and walked off back towards the entrance to the restaurant. Michelle quickly followed behind.

Dallas rushed over to the entrance, and walked inside. He walked towards Cherry's table, when Cherry had suddenly noticed Dallas coming near. Her smile turned into a closed mouth, frozen glare. She could not believe what she was seeing. After a week without neither speaking nor seeing Dallas, it was so strange to see his face so sudden like this. She looked away, immediately avoiding eye contact. But before she knew it, she could see the fuzzy image of Dallas hovering beside her table from the corner of her eye.

He just stood there, like he had no clue what to do or say. And he didn't. He had never planned this. Instead, he just softly spoke the words that could easily come to mind.

"I need to talk to you." he said. Cherry heart beater faster as she heard his voice. This was that last thing that she had wanted. All Cherry wanted to do was forget, and move on. But why did Dallas have to make it so hard? Why did Cherry still want to be able to love Dallas?

Finally, she became so fed up with the situation. She got up, and walked out of the restaurant, taking her purse along with her. She assumed that Dallas would follow closely behind, and they could speak to each other in private. And he did. He walked behind her, and the two once again walked out of the restaurant. Cherry, without looking at Dallas, continued to walk further and further away from The Dingo, until they had both crossed the street and continued towards the park. Cherry finally stopped and sat down at the fountain, where Bob was killed. She placed her purse gently into her lap, then looked down at it. She became uncomfortable with the way it sat, and then moved it beside her.

Dallas could sense how uncomfortable she was, so he continued to stand in front of her, watching her. The silence became so hard to sit through, and the two began to occupy themselves with their own thoughts. But, no matter how hard they had tried, the two could no longer think at all. They both just continued to bask in the silence, and the strange thing was that neither of them had minded it.

Dallas looked down, and slowly sat next to her. He looked down into his lap, occasionally allowing his eyes to wander towards hers, then back to his. "Are you going to talk?" Cherry asked, as she stared into her lap. Dallas' heart raced. He looked at Cherry, at her face. At her cheeks. He had never felt so nervous in his entire life. He found it sort of funny, in a way; out of all people who were never able to make Dallas sweat once, a sweet little girl like Cherry was the one to finally make him slip.

Finally, he looked her in the eyes and said, "What I did the other day…" he could barely finish his sentence, because all he could see were the scars on Cherry's arms, and the scratch on her cheek. He noticed her soft, pale skin, and he wondered how he could ever hurt something so soft and frail, so delicate. He wanted to touch it. But he knew that Cherry would never let him touch her again, not after what he did. He continued, "What I did the other day was not me. I wasn't myself. I just…I just slipped, Cherry. With everything happening with Shelby, and her getting in between us, and your friends, and me. I just lost control of everything."

Cherry looked at him closely, she couldn't help but feel that Dallas was telling the truth. For one thing, Dallas would never go this far to apologize for anyone. Not anyone at all. Secondly, Dallas never felt guilty for hitting or hurting anyone. To see Dallas breaking these life-long rules of his; it wasn't like him. But Cherry didn't budge yet.

"Do you even remotely realize what you did?" she spoke up. Dallas immediately responded, "Yes, Cherry I really do. I really do, and I would give up anything just to know that you understand what I'm sayin'."

"And what _are _you saying?" she snapped.

Dallas paused, and then continued, "I'm saying that I love you, and, and that I'm sorry. That's all."

"Do you know how hard it was for me to gain the confidence in trusting you like this, Dally? Do you know how _hard it is_ for me to give my trust _to anyone at all?_" Cherry said, almost tearing up.

Dallas looked away, he could not look at her any longer. It was almost as if the scars on Cherry hurt Dallas more than they had physically hurt her. He nodded in response.

"You look at me, Dallas Winston. I see you, looking at my arms, my face. Go ahead. Look at what you did." she raised her voice. He turned his head back around to look at her.

What Cherry saw had nearly shocked her. As she watched Dallas turn around to look at her arm, Cherry noticed a single tear slowly fall from his eye. He couldn't look at her. Cherry began to feel everything all over again; the pain, the sadness, the anger, the happiness. Everything began to stir inside of her head. She knew at this time that Dallas had been telling the truth; that he hated the sight of Cherry in pain. And the truth was, she missed him dearly. She missed the days when they just talked, the days when they didn't say a word to each other, and the days when they held each other. She missed being able to joke around and talk with his friends. Although she was still upset at the fact that her friends failed to get along with Dallas as much as Cherry was able to get along with his friends, she still understood the concept that Dallas was from a different course of society. Things had to work just the way they were.

Cherry finally added, "I meant it when I said I'd never write you off. I just don't want to be the stupid girl that keeps running back, right back into her problems." And that was exactly how Cherry had felt. She wanted Dallas so badly, but she never wanted to be the weak one. She never wanted to be the typical girl who suffered from abuse, and yet she always manages to run back to her sweet boyfriend who says it was an accident. That was not Cherry. However, in this case, she and Dallas both knew that this would never happen again.

"You're not stupid," Dallas mumbled quietly, "you're the smartest, toughest girl I've ever known." Cherry let a small grin appear on her face, and Dallas caught it. He snuck his hand over to hers, and grabbed it lightly. Holding her hand in his, he said, "Listen, I love you more than you'll ever know, baby girl."

Dallas leaned in and kissed her lightly on her cheek, right on the scar that he had given her only a few days ago. After he had kissed her, he gently held his face against her scar, and closed his eyes. Cherry could feel him lightly breathing on her cheek, and it made her heart race. This was the Dallas that she had missed so much.


	14. A Piece of Work

**_PLEASE READ:_**

**_I know this was one of my shortest chapters, this was basically the finished ending to the last chapter. But I just wanted to take this time to ask you all, as readers, what you'd be interested in seeing next! Please feel free to rate and comment...But what I would love most is some ratings along with some suggestions of what YOU would like to see happen next to Cherry and Dallas. It can be good, bad, mysterious, sad, etc. Then, hopefully one of your suggestions will launch my next chapter. Thanks so much for reading!_**

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><p>Dallas had only wished that kissing the scar on Cherry's cheek would heal it at that very moment. With his face pressed against it, he wished that he could know, just for this very moment, what Cherry had been feeling. Little did he know, Cherry actually was healed by the kiss that he had brought upon her cheek. Cherry began to feel whole again, and she did not know why. The thing that had puzzled her the most was the idea that she had turned so quickly. One moment she is convinced that Dallas hadn't meant a thing to her, the next she had been completely head over heels. She didn't like this, but frankly, at the moment, she did not care. She felt what she felt.<p>

Cherry decided to give in. She took a deep breath, and turned her head to face him. His eyes, still slightly watered, stood out so apparently. The skin on his cheeks were nearly glowing. Cherry noticed his cheekbones, and then the single tear that had still laid upon them. With her finger, she softly wiped it off his face. She had come into conflict with her own emotions, but she could no longer handle which one to trust more. She lost control and instead went ahead with her instinct thoughts; Dallas was only from the outside, she thought, but in so many ways. He was like some piece of art work, like a painting.

Cherry had remembered seeing an attractive looking painting before. It had plenty of dark and interesting shades, and it gave her a feeling that dragged her in further than any other bright paintings could have. But the moment that she had taken a step closer, examining the painting, she then realized that it was nothing special at all. There was nothing to it, only different shades than usual; nothing else had made it different from any other painting. The looks were nothing short of deceiving. However, when deciphering the abstract designs of this painting, she had come to notice that it had a strong essence of beauty to it. The fact that there was something hidden within the piece of art; it had turned the piece into something so great, almost astonishing.

That was Dallas. With feelings so abstract, and an external form of attractiveness, Dallas was amazingly beautiful. And nobody else but Cherry could tell the difference, between him and the other paintings hung up on the wall.

"I'm sorry, Cherry. I love you." Dallas whispered with has face still remaining close to hers. Cherry nodded. She then replied, "I know, I still love you too."

He kissed her lips gently. Dallas had realized at this very moment how much he had missed her. He knew he had missed her before, but he had not felt her kiss in several days. He held her tightly, not letting her go. Cherry began to smile without realizing it, and she moved one hand up to touch the front of his neck, right below his chin. She pulled away, and rested her head just below his, onto his chest.

"Your little fast-mouthed friend wouldn't let me near you just a minute ago." Dallas spoke up with a smirk. Cherry felt the vibrations of his voice through his chest.

She looked up, "Who? Michelle?"

"Is that her name? I don't know, I've never met the chick before, I don't think."

"Yeah you have! When we were with Sophia and Marcia, remember? She's the one that made you walk out that one day."

Dallas looked straight ahead and paused. He kept thinking of the one day that he had gotten upset, which was the day that he hit Cherry. Finally, he remembered. He remembered back to when Michelle had implied that Cherry didn't even deserve Dallas. Just thinking about it irked Dallas a little.

Dallas laughed, "Oh, yeah I remember her. No wonder that broad was so pissed, couldn't even remember who she was. I asked her if she was a friend of yours. That set her off like a time bomb, man."

"Wow…" Cherry smiled. She found it humorous that Dallas hadn't remembered Michelle only after meeting her just a week ago. She knew it was about time Michelle had her ego straight. After all, she _was _one of those girls that thought they had owned every room they walked into, always assuming that every guy they had laid eyes on drooled over them. Evidently, Dallas was not the candidate that Michelle had been expecting.

"Well, I mean I'm having lunch with her right now. I mean, her and Marcia. So I guess I'de better head on back soon." Cherry grabbed her purse.

Dallas stood up, "Oh, yeah I was actually just about to get a bite to eat with Pony and Johnny, if you wanted to say hi real quick. They'd love to see ya."

Cherry nodded and smiled, "Yeah, yeah actually that'd be great."


	15. An Early End To An Odd Night

Dallas and Cherry had continued on with their lives, both living happily with each other's company. Dallas would occasionally bring Ponyboy and Johnny to Cherry's football games to watch her perform her routines, however he mostly could not stay for the whole event. Cherry had still appreciated the effort that Dallas had brought into their relationship, she knew how impossibly hard it was for anyone to get such commitment out of him as much as she had.

"So how is this going to end up happening, hm?" Marcia asked Cherry while putting her earrings on. The two girls were heading over to a party down the street, and they were to go with Dallas and Two-Bit. Cherry shouted from her closet, "Don't worry, my parents think I'm sleeping at your house. That's okay, right?"

"Yeah, sure, why not." Marcia replied. Cherry's parents had always had no problem with allowing her to attend parties, but she had wanted them to be out of her hair for the entire night, just in case she had planned to stay with Dallas that evening.

When the girls had arrived at the party, they were amazed of how many people had actually been showing up. Cherry looked around, observing the house she had just walked into. To her left, a group of guys trying to outdrink each other. To her right, about three different couples getting frisky on a couch. And just ahead of her, tons and tons of small circles of people, talking to one another, each person with a beer in hand. Cherry looked at Marcia, and Marcia smiled back. The girls knew that they were there to have fun, but where were the boys?

"Ladies…" Two-Bit scrambled behind the two, stroking Marcia's back. Marcia giggled, "Well, hello!". Cherry smiled, she had always loved Two-Bit's humor. She wondered where Dallas was. After all, Two-Bit and Dallas were supposed to go together to the party. Finally, she had spotted him grabbing a few beers from the cooler. He made his way back over towards Two-Bit and the girls. He finally approached them.

Holding beers in both hands he nodded towards Marcia and leaned in for her to hug him. "Ay, how are you gorgeous." he asked her in a casually and jokingly manner. Marcia laughed, "Hey Dally!"

He then looked at Cherry and smiled, "Hey, sweetheart." and then leaned in to kiss her. It had always given Cherry the chills every time Dallas had said that, the way his New York accent heavily took over the words. It practically memorized her. She kissed his lips, and she could smell a slight scent of beer on his breath. Dallas, however, was not drunk. He handled his drinking very well.

"Ay, you wanna come with me for a sec? I got somebody who wants to meet ya." Dallas wrapped his arm around Cherry.

"Yeah, sure. Marcia?" Cherry looked back at her. Marcia nodded, and walked off with Two-Bit to talk to some other girls.

Cherry loved the way that Dallas was dressed that very night. Something looked new, she just couldn't quite figure out what it was that made him look so different. He wore a basic white t-shirt, loosely fitted, along with straight-legged, black jeans. And for the first time in a while, he had worn sneakers instead of boots.

Cherry did have a few drinks that night, but she was never the heavy drinker. It wasn't until later that night she had realized that something may have gone wrong. "You okay, Cherry?" one of the girls asked that she had been talking to. Cherry began to look ill. Her face was pale, and her eyes kept staring straight ahead of her, not moving. "Cherry?" the girl continued to ask.

"Yeah, yeah I just feel a little sick." she finally responded. The girl lightly grabbed her arm and lifted her up until she stood up out of her chair. Guiding Cherry to a bathroom slowly, she asked, "Did you have a little too much to drink?". Cherry shook her head. That was what had confused her so much, she had barely drank anything at all. Only a few sips of this and that, but she had done so much worse before. What was happening to her? There was no way that she had drank anything too heavy, or at least she didn't _know it. _

Cherry let go of the girl's arm and ran towards the bathroom, she couldn't hold it much longer. Making it just in time, she lifted up the toilet seat and regurgitated. The girl immediately ran up behind her and stood in the doorway. Her face looked slightly panicked, and Cherry's vision became blurred. All that she could visually make out was the girl walking out of the door way. Then suddenly, she began to notice that the girl was now talking to Dallas.

The girl Cherry had been talking to, her name was Victoria. She had been telling Dallas that Cherry may have had too much to drink, and that chances were, someone had probably spiked her drink. In other words, Cherry may have possibly been drinking something way more powerful than she had expected. Dallas ran to the bathroom and saw Cherry sitting on the floor, looking as sickly as can be.

"_Jesus Christ," _Dallas muttered, "aw, Cherry baby. Come here, sit up." He kneeled down beside her and pulled her torso slightly upward, so her hair wouldn't fall into the toilet. He began to rub her back gently while saying, "It's alright. Sometimes these things happen, fuckin'…these assholes don't know how to get their shit together, man. Putting shit in people's drinks, man. I'm sorry Cherry."

Cherry regurgitated once again. As Dallas held her hair back, he couldn't help but feel terrible for allowing such a terrible thing to happen to his girl. She was _his _girl, and he was responsible for her. He chose to protect her, but once again, he had failed to do so.

Once Cherry had stopped vomiting, Dallas lifted her off the ground and helped her to his car. He opened up the car door, led her into the passenger's seat, and then closed it. Once he climbed into the driver's seat, he took a moment to think. He had already been drinking, but he didn't want to risk Cherry becoming more sick at the party. It was time for her to go home.

"I'm not drunk, I just feel sick." Cherry suddenly brought up, while clenching her hands around her stomach. Dallas was already driving at this point, staring straight ahead of him. "I know," he said, "That's why I need to take you away from this place. You're not safe there."

Cherry didn't want to be sick at the party, but there was absolutely no way she had wanted to go home. Her parents were home, and if they had seen her vomiting, they would throw a fit.

"No, Dally I can't go home! Please don't take me-"

"Cherry, I'm not taking you home!" he interrupted her. She began to notice that he was pulling into a dark alley. It was the alley right across from where he had lived. He parked his car and said, "You're coming home, with me."

Cherry and Dallas had finally made it upstairs, to where Dallas' room was held. Dallas took her purse and placed it on his dresser. He led her to his bed and sat her down. He quickly took off her jacket for her while saying, "Here, get comfortable will ya? Need a change a' clothes?" Without waiting for an answer, Dallas walked over to his dresser. He had come to realize while rummaging through that all he had were a few t-shirts, pants, underwear, and jackets. Nothing too special. "Uhhh…" he mumbled to himself while digging through. "Here," he said while finally pulling one shirt out of the drawer. "I don't know, you feel comfortable in this? It's all I got."

Cherry nodded, then rushed to the bathroom. What was wrong with her? It was almost like her heart was falling out of her stomach. When Cherry came back out, she smiled when seeing that Dallas had made the bed ready for her. His t-shirt was laid out, and the sheets and comforters were opened up, ready for her to climb on in. Cherry had slowly started feeling better as she walked towards his bed slowly. Dallas walked back into his room as Cherry began changing into his shirt. He had come to bring her a glass of water. Seeing that she was occupied, he set the glass down on the night stand beside his bed.

"I'm sorry if I ruined this for you," Cherry apologized as she had finished changing, "I don't know what is happening to me, but I'm fine now. I can do fine on my own tonight.". Dallas ignored her as he walked right past her, pulling the bed sheets further to the side, waiting for Cherry to lay onto the bed. She looked at Dallas confusingly, then slowly sat down. She began to continue to slowly and steadily move her legs onto the bed one by one, and then finally laid down. She couldn't tell what was on Dallas' mind. Without saying a word, Dallas folded the sheets back over Cherry once she had laid down. What was he doing, tucking her in?

"So are you heading on back to the party?" Cherry asked. Dallas sunk his eyebrows.

"Nah, party was lame as hell. Besides, not with you like this." he responded as he tucked Cherry's hair behind her ears. Cherry had found Dallas' actions to be a bit unusual, but she liked it a lot. She found it sort of amusing and cute, the way he cared for her.

He continued to ask, "You need anything?"

Cherry shook her head. Her face was still pale. Dallas could sense that something was on Cherry's mind. He knew that she had wanted something, something more.

"You want me to stay." he said. And before Cherry could say anything, he leaned closer, lightly running his fingers through her soft hair, "Cherry, if you want, you can always ask me. I'll stay."

Cherry finally nodded, and Dallas climbed right into bed with her. Laying beside her, he wrapped his arm around her hip, letting his face sink into the back of her neck. And suddenly, just like that, Cherry felt better already. Just knowing that she was safe again, it made her feel at home.


	16. A Real Big Mess

Cherry closed her eyes throughout the first half of the night, only to realize that she couldn't sleep. Dallas, however, had no problem with sleeping whatsoever. She could hear Dallas' slight breathing noises, followed by little deep-sleep moans, just behind her ear. She felt weak, she had wanted nothing more at the time than a peaceful rest; but rest would not come. Every time she had inhaled deeply, she felt as if once she had exhaled she would throw up everything within her. As she opened her eyes, she grew restless. And suddenly, she had once again obtained that feeling; the dizziness, and the sensation that she was going to vomit her heart out of her chest.

Cherry quickly got up out of bed and quietly walked to the bathroom. Dallas woke up to the sounds of her crying. He quickly arose out of bed and ran to see what was wrong. He found Cherry alongside the toilet, sitting on the floor. She was wrapping her arms around her stomach, and she was sniffling quietly to herself, attempting to not awake Dallas. She looked up to notice he was watching her the moment she heard him speak.

With a tired, raspy voice he asked, "Cherry, you alright?"

Cherry tried to speak through the aches running through her, "I don't know, my stomach…My stomach, I don't know what's wrong. It hurts so much. I…". She continued to vomit into the toilet. Dallas began to feel worried, this was not any normal reaction that he was used to seeing from someone who had too much to drink. He immediately kneeled down next to her and touched the back of his hand against her forehead. He then rubbed her back slowly, saying "Breathe, Cherry. Breathe."

After Cherry had tried to calm herself down for about two minutes, the pain became worse. She clenched her arms around herself, while nearly toppling over onto her side. Dallas caught her, and allowed her to lean into his arms. Cherry was in a lot of pain, and this frightened Dallas. He hated seeing her so hurt, especially without having a clue what was going on. "Where does it hurt, Cherry? Tell me where it hurts."

She could no longer speak, she only held her stomach tightly. Dallas looked down to see that she was signaling to him that the pain was held in her stomach region. Dallas had finally come to a conclusion in his mind that Cherry was undergoing a small case of alcohol poisoning of some sort. Whatever it was, it was not normal. He had to get her into a hospital.

"Cherry," Dallas tried to stay calm, "I'ma take you to a hospital, okay? Everything's gonna be okay.". He lifted her off of the floor, grabbed a jacket, and wrapped it around her. Then, he picked her up and carried her outside, as he walked back to his car. He set her down in the seat like he had done before, and drove as quickly as he could to the nearest hospital.

Cherry tried to keep herself distracted, thinking of different tunes of different songs that she had liked in her head. She held Dallas' jacket tightly around her, and hoped to God that she wouldn't throw up again. By the time they had reached the hospital, Cherry decided that she had wanted to walk on her own. She thought that maybe the pain would go away easier if she had moved around for a bit. Dallas walked slowly beside her every step of the way, keeping his arm around her waist just in case she grew weaker.

"I'm sorry, visiting hours are closed until morning." a nurse had stated when seeing the two walk in. Dallas immediately raised his voice, "I'm not here to pay a fuckin' visit, can't you see she's sick?".

The nurse backed away slowly, almost as if she were gesturing to call security. Dallas then continued, only in a slightly more polite tone of voice, "Ay look, will you just help us out? She's really sick, lady, you gotta get her a doctor."

Cherry was rushed to a room, however Dallas, due to his behavior, had to wait outside. He became very frustrated, not knowing how Cherry was feeling, or if she was going to be alright. After about an hour, Cherry had walked out of the room with the doctor following closely behind. Dallas could see that they were in the middle of a conversation, and Cherry had looked like she had just been crying. Noticing this, he immediately got up and began walking towards them.

"Were you planning on telling him, or would you rather me explain?" the doctor had asked her.

Cherry shook her head, "Thank you, doctor, but I might as well tell him myself.". Cherry had about a million thoughts running through her head. She was no longer in pain, physically at least. Mentally, however, she was panicked. After Cherry and Dallas had eventually made it back to his car, they sat in silence. Cherry had been fiddling with her hands in her lap, and Dallas could see that she was on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong, baby?" he asked as he reached out his hand and placed it onto her leg. Cherry felt chills crawling up and down her spine when he touched her, it made her feel afraid. She could not help but allow a tear to escape from her eye. She leaned in to hug him as he asked, "Cherry, tell me what's wrong. What'd the doc say?"

"I have to tell you something, Dallas." She pulled away.

With Dallas' hand still attached to her thy, he nodded, "Yeah? And what's that?" Cherry grew hesitant, but she knew it had to be done.

She sighed, and took a deep breath. With tears in her eyes, she began to close her eye lids, and then open them. She wished that she were only dreaming, if only she were dreaming. _Goodbye, Dally, _she thought to herself as she bit the bullet and began to speak once more:

"Dallas, I-I'm pregnant."

Dallas just stared back at Cherry, as if he hadn't heard a word she just said. He nodded, as if he were in a trance; clearly he had tuned out the words, 'I'm pregnant' and could only see the movement of her lips. But deep down inside, he knew exactly what she had said. He just did not want to believe it.

"Wha-..wait, what?" he asked.

"It was motion sickness," she continued, "the doctor tested me, and I'm pregnant. It wasn't the alcohol."

Dallas looked down. His mind could barely process what had just happened. Instead, he could only fill up the silence with useless words and noises, "I…I uh-".

Finally, he turned to the steering wheel, put the car into ignition, and began to drive back home. With complete silence in the car, Cherry became slightly confused. What was Dallas thinking? Did he hear a word that she had just said? Was he as panicked as she was? Was he going to say anything _at all _for the rest of the night? Finally, she spoke up. "So…" she said, hoping that it would act as a stimulant for a conversation.

Dallas just continued to drive in silence, looking straight ahead of him. _Maybe he just needs time, _Cherry thought to herself. Yeah, that's it. Dallas needed time. Maybe he wanted to get home before discussing this. Cherry wiped her tears, and continued to patiently wait until they arrived at his destination. After a few minutes, the silence began to bother Cherry like no other. She wanted to know what was on his mind. She wanted to know if he'd stay. After all, that _was _what he had just said to her before they fell asleep that very night. _He said he'd stay for the night, not for the rest of his damn life, idiot, _Cherry thought angrily to herself. She couldn't help but feel like a fool, allowing herself to get into a mess like this. It wasn't like her at all. And besides, Cherry had thought that they had always been careful. She never wanted to take any risks with Dallas, dating him was already risky enough.

Dallas parked his car, got out, and leaned against the car door. Cherry got out, and proceeded to walk around towards him. She took each step slowly and steadily. Cherry couldn't help but notice how preoccupied Dallas was with his thoughts. He didn't even look at her.

Dallas felt like his heart had slowed down to one beat per minute. He wanted to say something, but he had no idea what to say to Cherry. He felt awful, but he also felt confused. What next? How did this happen? All that ran through Dallas' mind was _Shit, shit shit shit…_

He finally looked up at Cherry, who suddenly had tears streaming down her face, onto her small, soft cheeks. Dallas took one look at her face and lost it. He became frustrated, he felt like he, alone, was at fault for this. He walked towards her with arms open, and grabbed her. He held her in his arms tightly, holding her head towards his chest as he said, "It's okay, it's…it's gonna be okay."

Cherry began to cry. For some odd reason, she felt an overwhelming sense of fear when Dallas said this. She wanted to believe him, she wanted to know that it was going to be alright. But she just couldn't; she could not convince herself that all was going to be well. She could feel Dallas' hand running through her hair, she could feel the warmth of his chest. But she still did not feel as safe as she had wanted to be. She was carrying Dallas' child, what was she supposed to do now?

"Come inside, you'll catch cold out here." he said with urgency. With his arms wrapped around her, he guided her upstairs. On the way up, he lowered his arms, and without barely noticing, Cherry had begun to realize that Dallas was now holding her hand. She felt very strange when realizing this; Dallas and Cherry never held hands when walking. Looking at Dallas, she could see that he possessed a look of worry. Not an obvious sense of worry, but she could tell that his mind was definitely somewhere else. Once they had arrived inside his room, he let go of her hand and closed his door. Cherry continued to slowly walk towards his dresser, staring at the mirror in which she had seen herself in.

Cherry continued to stare at herself in the mirror; she couldn't believe what had just happened. She looked at her body, her face, her stomach. She couldn't believe that she was carrying a child, or at least about to. The image of herself began to cause a stir in her stomach, she wanted to vomit. She turned around to look at Dallas, who was now looking back at her, standing next to his door. He had a blank stare on his face, holding his arms at his side.

"I can't do this, Dally. I can't have a child, I just…I just can't-"

"No, no no no, Cherry…" Dallas interrupted as he walked over to hold her once again.

"I mean we were careful, weren't we?" she asked, concerned.

"Yeah," he whispered, as he tried to recall any time in which they weren't.

Dallas walked over to his dresser, pausing for a few minutes. He then pounded his fist into the wall, suddenly feeling frustrated. Cherry flinched at the sight of this, and sat on his bed. Dallas sat next to her. He wrapped an arm around her, and then broke the silence.

"I'm never gonna leave you, you got that?" he lowered his voice. He wiped a tear off of her face. "I'm gonna make this right, this I promise you." he continued.

Cherry faked a small smile onto her face and looked Dallas in the eyes. She didn't want him to know how afraid she was, afraid of her parents finding out, afraid of what her friends would think; and most of all, afraid of her future.

"I love you," she finally said to him, "But I need you to do me just one favor."

"Anything." he replied.

"Please, just be honest with me right now. Do you _want _to stay?"

Dallas raised a hand up to her cheek, continuing to look at her. _Jesus, what am I doin' here? _he asked himself. This was not like Dallas Winston at all. If there was any situation that Dallas would run from, it would be this one. But something was drawing Dallas into this, something out of the ordinary. Something new.

Perhaps it was merely the fact that Dallas had actually, for once, cared for a girl. Normally he would act carelessly annoyed. He probably would have even blamed a girl for becoming pregnant simply because she wasn't thinking. But here Dallas was, for the very first time, standing by someone. He knew that Cherry had a future, being a Soc and all. He knew how much this would change her. He had to do something.

"Yeah," he whispered. He couldn't believe what he was saying, but he knew that deep down inside he was never going to let himself live knowing he had done this to Cherry. He had to stay; he wanted to stay.

"I just…" he continued, as he had an arm wrapped around Cherry, "…You just gotta give me a little bit, alright? I need to think. Just gimme a minute to think."

Cherry nodded as Dallas gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Stroking her arm up and down, Dallas stared straight ahead of him, thinking about what had lied ahead of him. The strange thing that Dallas had discovered was, he had an awfully difficult time trying to convince himself to stay away. He felt out of touch with himself, his regular old 'Dallas' self. As a matter of fact, he _had _gone soft. But that was the whole point, Cherry was the only one that Dallas _could _go soft on. He didn't want to change that. He wanted to tell himself that this wasn't for him, and more importantly, he wanted to tell himself that he was not a father. However, his heart became more of an influence than his head; and his heart wanted Cherry.

"Shit, Cherry. Real mess we got on our hands, real big mess." Dallas looked down at her, as their foreheads touched. Side by side, sitting on the edge of his bed, he continued to rub her shoulder with one hand, and hold her hand in the other. Finally, he added, "I love you no matter what, though. We're gettin' through this, you and me."

Cherry could feel her tears sink into Dallas' shirt. She could barely notice time running by, minutes turning into hours. Every time she began to lose herself, Dallas whispered, "I love you" to her gently, kissing her cheeks. The two laid side by side, and together they remained awakened with moments of doubt, regrets of the past, and hopes for the future.


	17. Still At Rock Bottom

"Ay, I'm serious, man. You gotta' ask him for me, alright?" Dallas looked at Two-Bit.

Sodapop cut in, "Dal, if you're looking for a job, I know for sure Mrs. Warner needs a babysitter down the street if—"

"I don't want no babysitting job, alright? I need a real job!" Dallas raised his voice.

Dallas, Sodapop, and Two-Bit were walking down the street, right past Dallas' place. After the news that Cherry had brought to his attention, he knew that he needed to find a way to earn money, and earn it fast. Getting a job was the least that Dallas could do for Cherry.

Two-Bit suddenly asked, "Why not? Shit, I might as well go over there and earn some dough myself! Mrs. Warner's loaded, Dal. You work for her, you probably be gettin' more cash than the both of us." The three of them stopped at an intersection. Dallas lit up a cigarette with a disgusted look on his face. He replied, "I don't like kids. I've never ever liked them. And I'm not..."

Dallas paused as he blew out smoke. Suddenly, he had realized what he was saying. _Holy shit, _he thought to himself. Dallas hated kids? Well, that's very unfortunate; he'll really be in for a treat in about nine months. Dallas suddenly felt frustrated, and yet slightly sad. It didn't feel right, turning behind Cherry's back to say something like that to his friends. His own _friends, _Dallas hadn't even told them the news yet; should he have?

Finally, he continued, "I'm not gonna' just sit here and fuckin—I'm just not gonna' do it, alright? Is that okay with you?"

Two-Bit shrugged in confusion, "Yeah, I guess so? Whatever?" The three finally had crossed the street, continuing towards the park.

"Dal," Sodapop hesitantly spoke up, "since when did you actually wanna' _earn_ your money?" Two-Bit had bursted out into laughter at the sound of this. It was true; Dallas had never really wanted to work any sort of job. He often robbed small stores, for it was a habit he had developed back in New York.

"What's so funny?" Dallas smirked towards the two. Two-Bit continued to laugh as Dallas began to punch the side of his shoulder, "I said what's so funny?"

"Nothing, you're just funny, Dal." Two-Bit smiled.

"You think I can't get a job around here?" Dallas jokingly pushed Two-Bit into Sodapop.

Sodapop replied, "Of course you can, Dal. And we're here to help."

"Oh sure thing, sure thing." Two-Bit added, wrapping an arm around Dallas' neck as the three continued walking.

Being with friends had always cheered Dallas up, but today, however, was different. Dallas couldn't shake this one off of his mind, no matter how hard he had tried.

Cherry had been contemplating of whether or not she should tell her parents about what had happened. She _could_ wait; perhaps if the baby did not survive after the first trimester, maybe she could continue life without her parents having even known that she was pregnant in the first place. But what if everything had gone right? What if this baby had maintained a stable, healthy condition throughout the first few months? _Then what? _she thought. She had to tell them. Or, perhaps she could at least wait until after her first doctor's visit.

Just thinking about this nearly frightened Cherry to death. The thought of what her parents would say…Or even worse, the thought of how her parents would react to the fact that Dallas was the father. Cherry had never spoken a word to her family about Dallas, nor did she ever believe that they would ever approve of her even speaking to him. Her mother and father were very narrow-minded people; there was no question of them even agreeing to a single idea or word that Dallas would have to offer. Someone like Dallas Winston, someone with no visible morals, no respect towards authority; it wouldn't be allowed to step foot into the Valence residence.

Suddenly, Cherry had grown a very awful idea inside of her. However, the more and more she had thought about it, the less frightened she was. _No, no it just wouldn't be right, _she thought to herself. Still, she could not manage to get rid of it. The idea still remained inside of her; it was the idea that she would lie to her parents, and claim that Bob was the father of her child.

It was the perfect idea, at least in Cherry's thoughts. This would not only completely eliminate the horror of dealing with her parents' reaction to Dallas, but it would also cause Cherry's parents to act more sympathetically versus furiously. Cherry could still be coping with Bob's passing, and Cherry's parents knew that this was a touchy subject, so they would go easier on her. _No, _Cherry thought, _what a rotten thought. Absolutely not. _

Dallas deserved better, didn't he? Or would he not mind? Perhaps Dallas would rather have Cherry lie, especially if it had meant dodging her parents. Cherry stopped thinking, only to realize that she was creating an entire mess for herself.

Five days later, Dallas knocked on Cherry's door. It was about eleven-thirty at night. Cherry answered her door, she had previously given the message to Dallas that her parents would not be home that night.

"Hey," Cherry spoke softly, "come on in."

Dallas walked inside, closed the door behind him, and kissed Cherry on her lips.

"How you feeling?" Dallas asked, with a hand rested behind her neck.

"Could be better, could be worse" she answered.

"Yeah?" Dallas ruffled his hand through her hair. "I'm gettin' a job, you know that?"

Cherry had her arms folded, "No, I didn't. Maybe if you had called me at least once before last night, I might have known."

"I was busy lookin' for a job." Dallas replied.

"So, where'd you get a job?"

"I don't know, I didn't get one yet." Dallas pulled away.

Cherry was confused, "You just said you're getting a job."

"I am, I just don't have one yet. Look, will you just relax?" he asked, annoyed.

Dallas realized that Cherry might have had the right to be worried. After all, Dallas would never understand the position she was in. But, it was who he was. Dallas never liked being hassled by anyone.

Realizing this, he immediately grabbed her hands and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Here, sit down." He guided her to her living room couch, as they both sat down side by side. Dallas wrapped an arm around her waist, rubbing her arm slowly. Cherry forgave him, as she leaned in to rest her head just below Dallas' chin.

"I missed you," Dallas lowered his voice. Cherry lightly dabbed Dallas' neck with her lips and said, "I missed you, too." She had an arm wrapped around the front of Dallas' chest, like a hug, with her other hand wrapped in his. Cherry could feel Dallas' heartbeat through her arm, pressed against his chest, while feeling the vibrations of his voice every time he spoke.

"You still feeling sick?" Dallas asked. Cherry looked up at him, only to see that he was looking right back into her eyes. Cherry suddenly had felt happy again. For what felt like the longest time, she had felt so afraid and worried; she had almost forgotten what it had felt like to feel in love. Right now, however, she was reminded exactly of what that felt like. All it took was one look into Dallas' eyes; eyes so in control, but caring. Eyes so wild, but tame. He was beautiful, and Cherry had always known that.

She finally responded, "No, well, not as much."

"Have you told your parents?" he asked. Cherry shook her head no.

"Have you told- anyone?" he continued. Cherry, once again, shook her head.

Dallas nodded in an understanding manner.

There was a suddenly odd sense of tension held within the room. Cherry had wanted to tell Dallas about the idea that she had come up with previously, however she had no clue whatsoever of whether Dallas would feel upset or neutral when hearing of it. She had to risk it; it was for the better, for both of them.

She looked up at Dallas, who was now leaning his face inwards towards her neck. She took a moment to process her words, and then finally spoke, "Dally?"

"Hm?" he muttered.

" I've been thinking a lot, about my parents. I mean, they're going to go crazy about this." Cherry then paused to wait for Dallas' reaction. He then nodded, "So you're really thinkin' of telling 'em, huh?"

Cherry's eyes widened, "Well, yes? I have to. What am I supposed to do, walk around the house with some huge stomach, not saying a single explanation about it?"

"I don't know. I -I don't know." Dallas suddenly revealed a slight worried expression upon his face. After a short pause, he continued, "Guess I should probably be there when you do tell 'em then?"

Uh-oh. Not a good sign. Was Dallas actually fine with her bringing him into a mess like this? Was he really willing to talk to her insane and soon-to-be furious mother and father? Cherry hesitantly began proposing her idea.

"Actually, I don't even know if you'd want to do that. You don't understand, Dally. My parents...they'd-I mean they would

kill you. And it's nothing personal-well, actually, it kind of is-but that's just how they think. They're shallow people, Dal. And they will hurt you, and me. "

Dallas looked Cherry in the eyes as he watched her sit up straight, backing away from him.

He replied, "Yeah, so what then? You gonna tell them I'm the father, they'll come find me anyway. Might as well just get it over with and come with you."

"I know but I don't want to risk them keeping us apart. Dally, I had this idea. It's not the greatest idea in the book, but it would help, a lot."

Dallas continued listening. Cherry had suddenly felt a huge throb in her stomach. She could not tell if it was her feeling sick once again, or if she was just scared of how Dallas was about to react. She then continued, "They wouldn't go after you, if they didn't _know_ that you were the father. I'm just going to tell them that it's Bob's baby, and it'll all be over. Just like that."

Dallas lowered his eyebrows; he was disgusted by what Cherry had said. There was no way, absolutely no way, that Dallas would have let a guy like Bob, a Soc, 'replace' him with Cherry. Even though Dallas didn't want to be a father, he wanted to at least be a supporting role in Cherry's life; he didn't want to have his title ripped away from beneath him.

"Okay, slow down. Lemme' get this straight. You're gonna sit there and pretend that Bob is the father, of _our_ baby?"

Cherry wanted to cry, and yet smile at the same time when Dallas had spoken this. It was the way he said it, _our baby. _He had actually sounded genuinely concerned, and this was certainly not like him. However, Cherry had feared this moment in her planned-out scenarios. She was not aware that Dallas would be so emotional about something like this. She looked back at him, only to see Dallas swallowing a lump in his throat. The two just stared at each other, waiting for each other's moves.

"Dallas, no Dallas it's not like that at all. I'm just..." Cherry began to allow her tears to stream down her face, "I'm numb. I love you, and I don't know why but I've never loved anyone like I loved you, and I don't want to lose you. If I let them get between us, it's done. It's over." She began to cry harder, just the thought alone was making her frustrated and worried.

Dallas began to hold her once again, but his stomach felt sick. Stroking her back lightly, he allowed her to sob into his chest. He hated Bob more than anything, but it killed him to see Cherry so afraid. And what Dallas was about to do, was going to defy his rules completely; that rule being rule number three: Never put anybody else's feelings before your own.

Dallas finally replied with a lowered voice, "You really think that would help you? Help us?"

The sound of Dallas' calm, gentle tone of voice had made her feel loved, and somewhat guilty. She could tell that what Dallas was clearly making a sacrifice, and Dallas Winston making sacrifices is practically defying the impossible.

Dallas wiped a tear off of Cherry's cheek and mumbled, "Hey quit cryin', alright? You know that makes me sad." He then kissed her once again, on her forehead, "You do what you gotta' do, you hear me? When things are settled with the family, call me. Then you can gimme' a time and date for when I can finally exist in your life again."

Cherry could tell that Dallas had meant to imply a smart and sarcastic tone when saying this. He was hurt, and there was nothing else that he could do about it. And this was quite strange of a mood for a boy like Dallas Winston; for he had never allowed anyone to get close enough to hurt him. Usually, he had beaten others to the punch by hurting them, first.

"Dallas, please!" Cherry raised her voice as she watched Dallas stand up and walk towards her door. As he looked back at her, she continued, "This isn't about Bob, this isn't about any Soc's, or greasers, or anyone. I'm doing this because I want _us. _Please, will you please understand that?"

Dallas knew that Cherry had good reason for hiding the fact that she was carrying the child of a greaser, but he just couldn't shake off the mood he was in. _You're an idiot to even think she'd tell anyone else the truth, dumbass, _he thought to himself. Whether he understood or not, he felt hurt. Something hurt. Even he couldn't answer for what it was that was exactly hurting him. All he knew was this: No matter how hard a greaser can fight, he's still going to end up at the bottom.


	18. The Moment of Truth

Dallas couldn't help but feel useless to Cherry. He tried his hardest to not let it bother him, or at least not to allow Cherry to notice that he was bothered; but every muscle in his body couldn't stop him from feeling the way that he did at that very moment. Cherry continued to stare at Dallas while sitting on her couch, as he stood next to the door.

"So how are we gonna settle this? What's the plan?" Dallas finally mumbled while rubbing the back of his neck. Cherry wiped her tears and looked away. She could not look at Dallas when, clearly, she knew that every move she made was wrong. Cherry knew within herself that denying Dallas' ownership of the baby was wrong, beyond wrong. However, she could not have possibly imagined going through what would have lied ahead if her, if mother and father were to have known the truth.

Finally, turned away from him, she spoke with a cracked voice, "We don't say a word. That's…that's about it."

Disappointed, Dallas nodded as he nearly poked his tongue through the inside of his cheek, holding back words he knew that he'd regret saying to her. His worse exactly would have been, _Guess you were never fuckin' tough enough, Red. _ He continued to try with every power in his body to refrain from screaming at the girl, he was so upset. So frustrated, he almost felt as if he had uncovered a frame of Cherry's true sense of personality that he never wanted to discover. After all this time, Dallas had finally earned her trust. And to see that Cherry was still having doubts about admitting their relationship to others, it disgusted him. Dallas hated two-faced people, and that was what Cherry was.

Dallas reached for the door handle to leave, but his mind was still minutes behind him; still reacting and processing what Cherry had said about her plan. He turned around for the last time, and stated one last thought.

"I've just got one question," he spoke up, "What you gonna' do when Bob's parents find out?"

Cherry just sat there in silence, completely caught off guard from this. _He's right, _she thought. What was Cherry going to do once they had found out? Surely they would want to see the baby. After all, it would be there only grandchild. What would she say to them? How long could she keep up a lie like this?

Dallas continued to speak while opening the door, "You know I'de fuckin' do _anything _for you, Cherry." And as he finally took one step out the door, he stated, "But I'm _not _lying for you, or our kid."

As he slammed the door behind him, Cherry began to burst into tears. As she laid down on her couch, clasping on to the nearest pillow, she weeped, and weeped, and weeped some more. _What am I doing? _she asked herself. This wasn't the normal Cherry, this was not who she was. Since when had she cared about her parents' reaction more than the boy she had loved most?

She spoke aloud through her tears, "I'm carrying Dallas' baby. _Dallas' _ _baby._"

She could hear someone pulling into her driveway. And what more of perfect timing could have existed; it was Cherry's mother and father. Confused, Cherry quickly wiped her tears away, once again, and shuffled over to her window. She had thought that they were to return home by 1:00 in the morning, and it was only almost 11:40 at night. _No, no no no… _she thought to herself, _I'm not ready for this, I can't do this. _

She then wondered if her parents had seen Dallas walking down the hill as they drove up it. Had they even known that she was even _talking _to Dallas? No, no they did not. Cherry's family would never allow such a thing; anything associated with social rankings and wealth, Cherry had been raised under a strict radar. There was no such thing as intermingling with greasers, not in Cherry's household.

As her mother came first walking in, she let out a deep sigh, "Ah, Cherry darling. I'm afraid we're home early tonight." Cherry remained blankly stared as she watched her father walk in right behind her.

"Your father, here, got into it with one of the gentlemen down at billiards. And if you ask me, I much rather would have stayed home then watch a fight about absolutely _nothing_." Cherry had no idea how to respond to this, especially after what had just happened between herself and Dallas. She only nodded in silence.

"Cherry sweetheart? Something wrong?" her mother asked.

"Can I talk to you about something? Maybe in about five minutes?" Cherry hesitantly asked.

Her mother continued to stare at her, confused, while her father paused. "And why not now?" he asked, hanging up his hat on the rack.

"Just-just get settled in. We don't have to discuss it now, I just want us to all be together for this." she explained quietly.

Cherry's mother had thought that Cherry might have been waiting to introduce some good news to the family, however her serious expression had implied otherwise.

"Sure dear, I suppose I'll change. Honey, you really should change that awful shirt." her mother turned towards Cherry's father.

Cherry speedily walked into her bedroom, completely filled with regret. _Why, why did I have to do this now? Why couldn't I just wait? _She could barely even decide what to do while she had waited for her parents to sit down. Should she climb out her window? Call Dallas, or Marcia? Cherry knew that she was thinking like a mad woman. She couldn't help but feel upset for immediately forcing herself to deal with her parents. Speaking to Dallas must have given her some sort of emotional momentum, causing her to introduce the subject as soon as she laid her eyes on her parents. At this very moment, Cherry had begun realizing that it was time to face the consequences for the decisions that she had made. Cherry had overheard her father talking in the living room, "Do you suppose it's her grades?"

Her mother's voice faintly projected through the walls, "Certainly not, Cherry is always on top of her game. Perhaps a surprise." she laughed. _Oh my god, I'm dead _Cherry thought. Just the thought of Cherry's grades going down had brought anger to her parents, only imagining how they would take the pregnancy news made Cherry want to faint.

Cherry glanced over at her window, and there she saw the brightly-lit moon that had always greeted her every single night. Staring at it, she couldn't help but recall a specific memory; that of which her and Dallas were laying in his bed one night, staring outside his window.

* * *

><p>"You know I barely even noticed that I could see the moon from here until you looked at it." Dallas said to her, letting Cherry rest her head upon his chest. Dallas had just begun noticing that she was gazing out his window. "How come you're always lookin' at it?"<p>

Cherry looked back at Dallas, "I don't know. It's always made me feel relaxed. Reminds me of how small everything else is in the world."

Dallas tried to feel the same way, but all he could see was the moon. A small, white circle placed in the middle of the sky. "I don't feel nothin'." he said, "I've got a lot more shit goin' on in my life that's way bigger than the moon."

Cherry continued to look at Dallas, at his face. She kept thinking of what a beautiful look he had to him; those bright eyes, the positioning of his lips, his cheek bones, the way his non-greased hair had naturally rested upon his head, the way he looked when she could tell that he was thinking. He looked so-so on his own. And that was what had stroked Cherry as attractive the first time that she had laid eyes on Dallas. He was very individualistic, very independent. Dallas was never a follower.

"Dallas, have you ever thought about the future? Like what you'll be doing ten years from now?" Cherry suddenly brought. She couldn't figure out what exactly had made her bring this up, it just came to her.

"Nah, I'll be here." he said. It was the way that he said it, almost as if he had already planned himself a future that he knew was not very enjoyable; perhaps Dallas knew that he would remain a greaser for the rest of his life, forever and always.

"Why do you say things like that?" Cherry asked curiously.

"What?"

"Like…'oh, I'll be here. Blah blah blah..' " Cherry mocked him by impersonating his low voice.

Dallas smiled, "Oh, is that what I sound like?" The two laughed as Dallas brushed his hand up against her cheek.

He then continued as he looked down, past Cherry's delicate chin, "I don't know, I just say it just 'cause. I know my place, and I know I can do perfectly fine on my own. I've managed."

"But don't you ever want to live your dream? Fall in love? Have a family? Any of that?" Cherry continued to ask.

Dallas was puzzled by the way Cherry had been asking this. He had never actually thought about any of these things before, he always just…lived.

After a pause, he replied, "You're the only thing on my mind right now, and I'm happy with that."

* * *

><p>Back to reality. Cherry refocused her eyes as she continued glaring at the moon, took a deep breath, and walked out of her room. She began to feel her heart race as she saw her mother and father sitting beside one another on the couch. She walked slowly towards them, and sat among the chairs across them. She could feel both of their eyes gazing into her, watching Cherry fiddle with her hands.<p>

"So a lot has been going on lately." Cherry spoke up, finally breaking the silence. She realized that her parents were in no mood for fluff; they wanted the news. She continued to think of what she should say next, as she glanced at the impatient faces glaring back at her.

"I really don't know how to say this," Cherry began to feel a tear rolling down her face, "and believe me, I've been trying so hard to find a better way that I _could _say this."

Cherry began to feel herself losing control of herself. She did not want to cry in front of her parents, it only made things worse. Her mother's face began to frown, and her father became worried. Cherry looked up at them from staring at her hands, took a deep breath, and spoke the truth.

"I-I'm pregnant."

Cherry's father's eyes widened tremendously. Her mother, after a long pause, began to cry hysterically into the father's arms. Cherry began to feel very uncomfortable. What was even happening?

"This cannot be! What did we do wrong?" her mother cried. The way Cherry's mother had reacted, it began to bother her. Cherry continued, "Mom, this wasn't your fault at all. It's a mistake that I've made for myself. You-you guys, you guys have taught me everything right, and I-"

"Sherri, what do expect us to do about this?" her father interrupted, raising his voice. The way he had said this frightened Cherry. Cherry's mother, after minutes of crying, got off of the couch. She walked over to the telephone as she said through her tears, "We have to tell Bob's family. They'll want to know about this immediately."

_Oh my god, _Cherry thought to herself. Could it be? Did Cherry's mother actually just do all of the work for her? WIthout saying a word, Cherry's parents had already assumed that Bob was the father. For some reason, however, Cherry felt butterflies begin to drop within her stomach. The sound of her mother's voice began to make Cherry ill, as she began to recall Dallas' face when she had told him that she was going to lie about everything.

Cherry couldn't take it. She couldn't watch her mother dial the phone, she couldn't stand knowing that Bob's parents were about to be lied to, she couldn't stand hurting Dallas. _Her _Dallas, the boy who gave her everything. She just… couldn't.

So, she said something.

"No, Mom, no. Stop!" she raised her voice as her mom began to hang up.

"What?" she yelled back.

"Bob isn't the father."

"Then who the _hell _is it? Young lady I want to know who did this to you! Who? Hello? Do you at least have the decency to respect your parents enough and respond to a simple question?" her father screamed.

Cherry grew tired of the yelling, the anger, the crying; everything began to make her mind stir. She couldn't think, she didn't have time to think. So, she spoke.

"It's, it's…It's Dallas." she began to cry.

Her father began to laugh, however it was not very realistic. Cherry's father had wanted to believe that she was joking, only because he knew, just like everyone else in town, that Dallas Winston was no gentleman. He was a 'hood', a nobody, a troublemaker, he was trash; he was a greaser.

"You better pray to God that you're pulling our legs, Sherri Valence." her father snapped.

Cherry spoke very quietly, "Daddy, he's not who you think he is, he's a genuinely nice person. And he promised he'd take care of me and the-"

"YOU THINK PEOPLE LIKE DALLAS KEEP PROMISES LIKE THIS, SHERRI?" her father's voice began to crack from the yelling.

Her mother continued to cry, however she began to speak with a more upsetting, stern tone, "For God's sake, Sherri, he killed Bob! Have you lost your mind?".

"He did _not _kill Bob, Mom! You know that!" Cherry became upset.

"He's killed _someone, _I'm sure!" her Dad cut in.

"What are you even doing hanging out with people like that, Sherri?"

"I don't judge people based on class level, and you shouldn't either." Cherry raised her voice.

Her father continued to yell, "You are in _no position _to tell us what we should and should not do."

Cherry realized that she wasn't going to get any support from her family as long as she continued yelling back at them. After taking a deep breath, she responded calmly.

"I know that this is going to change my life forever. Trust me, I have been regretting this the moment I had found out. But what I need to hear from you is that you will be here for me, and that you understand how sorry I am."

Apparently her mother did not listen to a word that Cherry had said, because she only responded with, "How long have you been keeping this from us?"

Cherry continued, "Not very long. Look, I know that you've heard a lot about Dallas, but you haven't heard the truth. And the truth is, he loves me, a lot. And he wants to be there for me no matter what happens. And-and I love him too."

Cherry's father only looked away, he couldn't stand to look at his own daughter any longer. "Get out of this house." he said. Her mother did not say a word. Cherry, with tears still streaming down her face, asked "Wha-what?".

"I said," her father remained still, staring out the window, "Get out of my house, now."

And just like that, her heart dropped. This was the absolute worst that could happen. No, no, the worst that could happen was having not being able to see Dallas ever again. Still, however, this was the second worst thing that could happen. Cherry didn't know how to respond, she only turned to her mother, who also looked away.

Her mother finally spoke up, "Cherry sweetheart, if you choose dishonor this family, and our morals, then you choose to not live under this household. And frankly, this is the ultimately worst thing possible that you could have ever done to us."

Cherry was heartbroken, but she knew that this would happen. Without saying a word, she grabbed the keys to her car, a jacket, and walked out the door. Now almost twelve at night, Cherry sniffled through the freezing air, making her way to her car. There was only one place that she could even possibly think of going to at this hour; and that place was Dallas'. The only problem was, he could have been anywhere. What if he wasn't at his home? Knowing him, especially after the fight that they were just in, he could be out with his friends having a drink, or even seeing a movie. And what was she supposed to do if he wasn't home, sleep in her car, outside of Dallas' place?

All of these thoughts, they rummaged through Cherry's spaced-out mind as she began sitting in her car. As she shut the door behind her, she realized that there was nothing else that she could have done. Whether Dallas was home or not, it was her sanctuary. She started up her car, slammed the gas pedal, and drove off into the moon-lit light.


	19. A Guy Like Dallas

As Cherry finally made it up towards the outside of a hamburger joint, she had noticed that Dallas' car was parked right across the street. It was from this that she had remembered that Dallas had often crashed bars and friends' houses, since his father was abusive. There was no way that she'd catch him anywhere near his own house. As she parked her car, Cherry took a moment to breathe and construct a valid plan. Should she walk inside herself, or should she wait for him to come outside? What if he never goes outside?

Dallas was sitting at the bar while having a few more drinks. "Where'v you been this whole time, Dal?" one of the girls asked. Dallas took another slightly drunken sip from his cold glass, turned to her and muttered, "Places." All you could hear were the sounds of men yelling while playing billiards, and the amplified sounds of songs blasting out of the speakers from all corners of the room. Dallas was talking to the bartender, which had been a good friend of his. His name was Kris, and ever since Dallas had moved into town Kris had always had a soft spot for the kid, almost like he was a close nephew to him. Kris was sort of the " alternate dad" of Dallas' alternate home, which mostly took place at this very bar. He had always allowed Dallas to crash for several nights upstairs.

"Dal, how's everything? How are the boys?" Kris asked.

Dallas laughed, shaking his head, "Fuckin' great, man. Just great." Kris frowned, he knew that Dallas was out of his head; he wasn't talking to Dallas, he was talking to a drunken kid.

"I'm guessing you're staying here for the night?" Dallas didn't respond. His attention was drawn towards a girl who was eyeing him from across the room. "The fuck you eye'in me for?" he spat.

The girl walked towards Dallas and sat on the stool beside him. "Kris, what are you doing servin' this kid drinks?" she asked as she continued to stare at him.

"Jasmine, meet Dallas. Dallas, Jasmine" Kris introduced the two. Dallas looked her up and down, but he couldn't see anything. All he saw was a person sitting in front of him; nothing had turned him on. Normally Dallas never seriously picked up on girls, unless he had really observed something special about them. Otherwise, he enjoyed fooling around a bit; harassing plenty of girls that he didn't know, like Cherry, for instance. He always took pleasure in being a real asshole at times, but that was just him having fun; it was how he grew up. But right now, he was in no mood for discussion; he was mad.

Finally Dallas replied, "Yeah okay, and how old are you, sweetheart?". Jasmine responded with a short and simple answer, "Twenty-two.".

"Oh, so you're an older girl, huh?" he ran the word 'older' through his mouth slowly, giving a long emphasis within each syllable.

Jasmine laughed, "I guess you can call that old, for someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

"Yeah, you're young. And you're underaged." she smiled, grabbing the drink away from him.

"Yeah, yeah, then we're done talkin' here."

"What's eating you up?" she asked.

"I said get lost," he quickly responded. He got up out of his chair and took off his jacket, "fuckin' broad." he muttered.

Dallas began to notice others glaring in surprise at the front door entrance. At first he had thought that they were all staring at him, and it made him upset. However, he was nearly in shock to look behind him and see Cherry standing in the doorway. She had her eyes stuck on Dallas, and she continued to look straight at him from across the room. "What you doin' here?" Dallas said. Cherry walked towards him, ignoring the other men and women that had continued to stare at her form all directions. "You shouldn't be here," Dallas continued, "girls like you aren't s'posed to be here."

"You're drunk." Cherry said with a straight face.

"I'm not drunk, Cherry. So you need me to take you home, or what?" Dallas replied.

Dallas suddenly noticed one of the men open the entrance door to two greasers; one of them was young. "Dal!" Johnny yelled through the screen, as Dallas gave the man a nod, letting him know that they were okay to let in. Walking alongside Johnny was Two-Bit. Cherry continued to talk as the two of them walked up towards Cherry and Dallas, entering the conversation.

"No, I drove here, Dally. My parents kicked me out."

Two-Bit cut in, "My, my, you don't say! What for? Must've been somethin' real bad if they sent a little girl like you out on the streets!"

Dallas and Cherry looked at each other with sharp eyes. Dallas then turned back to Two-Bit, then back at Cherry. A short pause of silence was established between the four of them, until Dallas chimed in.

"Somethin' complicated, don't worry about it, man. Don't worry 'bout it." Dallas muttered quietly as he reached over, put is arm around Cherry, and pulled her closer to stand next to him.

"Hi Johnny," Cherry quietly said with a sweet voice. Johnny grinned and waved back. "How's Marcia, Two-Bit?" Cherry continued. Dallas became slightly annoyed that Cherry was keeping conversation between the two of them. He wasn't here for small talk, he wanted to get everything over with; he was already upset and annoyed of her not admitting to Dallas being the father of their child.

"Why, you guys haven't seen each other lately? She's good." Two-Bit replied.

"Hey so uh, did you guys need somethin'? What's up?" Dallas became impatient.

Johnny and Two-bit looked at each other, then Johnny replied, "No, we were just droppin' by 'cause we thought you might be here. And besides, we're waitin' on Ponyboy to hangout. We were just lookin' for somethin' to do."

Dallas nodded, "Alright, cool. Uh listen, if you guys don't mind I gotta do somethin', but maybe I'll see you around tomorrow, yeah?"

Dallas took Cherry upstairs to the room that he crashed in daily. As he closed the door behind him, he said, "So what happened?"

Cherry sat on Dallas' bed and explained, "They just…they just didn't care what I had to say. They threw me out.".

"And what about Bob's parents now? They mad too?"

Cherry looked up at Dallas, she had realized that at that time, Dallas was still under the impression that Cherry had lied about him being the father. She had to tell him what happened.

"I didn't lie to them, Dally. They know you're the father." Dallas just continued to stare back at Cherry, "What?" he asked.

Cherry stood up and began walking towards him. "I'm such a jerk for even thinking about doing that to you. I don't want to ever hide you from anyone. I was being selfish, I wasn't thinking about how much that would hurt you. I'm so sorry, Dallas."

She stopped and stood right in front of him. Cherry expected Dallas to go on a rampage, or even to just simply ignore her apology. However, he had surprised her by immediately taking her into his arms and quietly stating, "Don't worry 'bout it, don't worry 'bout it. As long as you're okay, you gonna be okay?"

Cherry remained in Dallas' arms and mumbled, "Yes.". She could smell his scent on his shirt, the _Dallas _scent. It was warm, it was comforting, and it made butterflies turn within her stomach. His breath had smelt of alcohol as he kissed her on her cheek.

"Dallas," Cherry looked him in the eyes, "if I ask you an honest question, do you think you could give me an honest answer?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Cherry guided him towards the bed to sit down. She took his hands, but his body language began to tell her that he did not want to sit down. Standing in front of each other, Cherry continued,

"I can tell that there's been something bothering you lately, and I just wanted to know if there was anything that you wanted to talk about with me."

Dallas looked around the room confused, and then back at her. He then responded with a firm, "No." Cherry knew that Dallas was lying. Deep down inside, Cherry had a hunch that Dallas was having many doubts and insecurities. She just needed to find a way to bring them out of him.

Realizing that there was no way of doing this, Cherry simply nodded with an "Oh," and sat down on his bed. Dallas took a long pause to look at her, and then suddenly felt a strange feeling come over him. He began to sit next to her and grab one of her hands gently, as he replied, "Are you ever gonna be allowed back with your parents again?"

"I don't even know right now, I'm trying not to think about it. Probably not for the next couple of days, but maybe after."

"I'm sure they'll want you home soon, no parents like yours are gonna send their daughter out when she's pregnant. Your folks aren't like that."

Cherry looked up at Dallas with narrowed eyes. "You don't _know _my parents, Dallas. You've never met them _once._"

Dallas tucked Cherry's hair behind her ear and stared into her eyes. He could see that she was worried, he knew Cherry's eyes like the back of his hand.

"Yeah, so? I know they care 'nough about ya' to put a damn roof above your head." he pointed towards his chest, "They care enough about you to make sure you're never around guys like me, or make sure you're never hurt."

"Dallas, stop it with that!" Cherry lowered her eye brows.

"With what?"

"You always do that, that thing. You say things like 'guys like me' and always imply that you're the worst choice for me. And you're not."

"You don't think I've ever heard it all before? You think these assholes, these parents, you think they all go handy-dandy over a greaser like me? You think people look at me like- like how they looked at Bob? Or Mike? Nobody, not even my god damn father and blood; nobody gives a shit, Cherry. They don't give a shit, and neither do I. I take pride in my record, in my friends, in what I do. Period. And because I don't fly with any of their bullshit, they know that I'm no good."

Hearing things like this always reminded Cherry of what had made her love Dallas over the other guys that she could have chosen. He was an individual, and he had no desire to change for anybody. She loved when Dallas had opened himself up to her about things like this, but it broke her heart when hearing many of the things that he had said. Some of the stories she had heard, like stories of Dallas' father, or his past, for instance, it always made her cherish the life that she had. Cherry hated the way her parents ran her life, but Dallas' stories always brought out the gratefulness within Cherry. Hearing Dallas talk had always made Cherry have a little more respect for him, especially looking back at what she had thought of him beforehand, when she used to judge him only as a greaser. Behind all that tough exterior, there was a human boy.

Dallas let go of Cherry's hand, and placed his hands onto his knees. He leaned forward and took a deep breath, almost as if he were preparing to say something that took a lot of thought. Finally, he sighed, looked right at Cherry, and continued: "I don't want you pretending like you belong with me; I want you to _know _that you belong with me, regardless of how much of a fucking mistake this was. Because you wanted an honest answer, and my honest answer is that I'm sick of being the 'greaser that never takes you places' or 'the guy that made your life go downhill' or some shit. People think they know me, they think I treat you like shit. But they don't_ know_ _shit. _And fuck what they know, because _I know _that you've become my world, and you mean more to me than anything I've ever known."

Cherry wanted to cry. Not of sadness, and not of happiness either. Well, maybe happiness; all she knew was that she had never heard or felt anyone love her as much as Dallas had expressed his feelings for her at this very moment. Cherry knew that she had loved Dallas just the same; if not, then probably more. But all she knew was that he had deserved to know how much he had meant to her.

Cherry wished that she could have come up with something more passionate and specific as Dallas had said, but instead she could only release three words that were on her mind at that very moment, "I love you."

_I love you, _she both said and thought at the same time. Three simple words, and she meant every syllable. She wanted Dallas more than anything that she could ever think of, or know of. Cherry wanted to scream at the top of her lungs so that everyone could hear her, her mother, her father, her friends; she wanted to scream _I love Dallas Winston _to all of them. All this time, she had constantly been living for the people who surrounded her; but what about Cherry? Why couldn't Cherry love who she loved, no matter what? Why couldn't Cherry live for Cherry, and nobody else? Perhaps that was why Cherry had found such bliss within Dallas' lifestyle; she had hoped to become more reckless and careless, just like he was. She saw qualities in him that she had only dreamed to possess ever since the day she had realized who she was. Cherry loved Dallas.

Cherry placed her hand on Dallas' cheek, and then leaned her head forward until her chin was resting upon his shoulder. When she talked, she softly spoke right by his ear.

"I wouldn't change a thing about that night, at the drive-in." she smiled. She continued, "Even all the shit that Bob's death put me through, I wouldn't change a thing as long as I knew I'd get you in the end."

Dallas softly spoke back, "For real?"

Cherry gave Dallas the longest kiss on the lips, and when she released him, they allowed each other's faces to caress with one another. "I love you," Cherry said. Dallas replied, "And I love you."

Cherry hadn't felt this passionate for Dallas in a while; for the past several days she had been awaiting in fear, waiting for her future to collapse right in front of her. She backed away from Dallas' shoulder to look into his eyes. And before she knew it, Cherry had begun undressing herself, one article of clothing at a time. She continued to look Dallas in the eye as she lifted her sweater above her head. She slipped off her shoes and undid her shorts. As Dallas watched, he slowly pulled her closer towards him. The both of them sat side by side on the edge of the bed, and Cherry began to lift Dallas' shirt above his head. He quietly looked her up and down, at her face, at her body; he grabbed her hand as she began to stand up in front of him, just before sitting on his lap. His hands slid from hers and appeared just above each sides of her waist, feeling her soft skin.

"You know," Cherry said, "after the baby, I'll probably never look like this again."

Dallas smiled, and he didn't let go of her. She slowly sat down in his lap as Dallas began to feel himself enter her. Cherry slowly moved up and down, as Dallas developed a firm grip on the sides of her waist. He cradled her back, allowing her to lean backwards away from him, as he leaned his face inward towards her breasts, kissing her passionately. He then pulled her back in, allowing him to kiss her neck, and then her lips. He then calmly spoke between kisses, "Cherry baby- you're gonna be beautiful- for as long- as- you -live."


	20. First's

**Author's Note:**

_Hello my lovely readers! I would just like to take this moment to thank you all for continuing to read my story, and for your wonderful reviews. I also wanted to apologize for being on hiatus for so long- with school, my job, and my recent holiday laziness, my schedule has been pretty hectic. But, I promise to remain loyal to you all when I say that I WILL keep up with the writing more often than usual. This chapter is a little less 'action-packed', it does contain a lot of dialogue, however I guess one could call it a "transitional chapter" (I don't know, I like giving my writing techniques special names to make myself sound cooler). ** Bottom line: So sorry for the wait...here's your next chapter...and please feel free to review, comment, and especially make suggestions for what you'de like to see happen next for Dallas and Cherry! Thanks so much!**_

Dallas awoke the next morning from the sun's light shining through a high window, just beside his dresser. As he began to shut his eyes once again, he realized that he could feel the texture of Cherry's skin beneath his fingers. His hand cradled the side of her waist, as she rested her cheek upon the side of his chest, while their legs remained intertwined with one another. Dallas inhaled deeply, then exhaled. He could feel the breeze from outside entering the room, rushing through the sheets, giving him the chills. He tucked his face inward towards Cherry's soft hair, and he felt warm again. While he could barely stay awake, he could still hear the sound of a door slamming from downstairs, and began noticing that Kris was probably opening up the bar, which meant it was past eleven o'clock in the morning. He then heard whistling, and then he could immediately tell that it was Kris humming a tune.

Dallas slowly separated himself from Cherry, made his way out of his bed, and began to put his clothes on. He was rushed, only because today was his first day working at The Shack, a restaurant that Kris' brother owned, and was nice enough to offer Dallas a job. The last thing he wanted to do was mess up his chances. Once he was dressed, he walked towards the door, and looked once more back at Cherry, who was sound asleep. Feeling slightly guilty for leaving her alone to wake up, he quietly walked over beside the bed, and leaned in as he kissed her lightly on her cheek, just below her eye. As Cherry began to open her eyes, Dallas smiled as he said, "Ay sweetheart, I'm runnin' late for this job I landed, you don't mind do ya'?"

Cherry sighed in surprise with a raised eyebrow, "You got a job?"

"I don't know how, but I did!" Dallas laughed with a shrug, as he backed up from the bed with a smile.

They continued to look at each other as Dallas slowly made his way towards the door. Cherry jokingly repeated, "A job?"

"A job!"

"You got a job?"

"A job!"

Cherry yelled, "Hurray, a job!"

Dallas laughed and playfully said, "Love you Cherry," as he waved her one last goodbye.

Cherry jokingly blew a kiss and watched Dallas rush out of the doorway and down the stairs.

Dallas arrived about two minutes late to work. As he walked into the empty restaurant, he immediately obtained sight of the man whom he had been looking for; or perhaps, the man who had been looking for him.

"You Dallas?" the man grunted. He was young, maybe in his late twenties', but he possessed an awful look of cockiness, something that Dallas could barely handle. He immediately walked towards Dallas, holding a stack of envelopes.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late." Dallas harshly replied. He didn't like being looked down upon, especially as the man was doing at that very moment.

"I don't know where the hell you came from, boy," the man continued, "But 'round where I'm from, if you're late, you're gone. No exceptions. Unless you got a hand fulla' paychecks to give out, don't plan on ever being late around here again. You hear me, kid?"

Dallas nearly grunted as he glared towards the man, watching him hand out envelopes to the waiters and waitresses that approached him. Dallas had the urge to tell the man off, show him who was really in charge of Dallas Winston. However, the sight of those paychecks were just enough to keep him quiet for the next few minutes.

"Follow me." the man glanced back at Dallas, and then continued to turn his back towards him, leading Dallas to his office.

As the two walked inside the back room, Dallas couldn't help but wonder if he had even wanted to work for this man. He was already annoyed as it was; he didn't want anymore attitude, or any more trouble for that matter. "Shut the door, please," the man spoke as he sat at his desk, "and sit down."

Dallas sat in the chair in front of his desk. After a rough silence, along with a few shuffles of papers, the man finally spoke, "Now, maybe a more proper introduction; I'm Sal. You don't need to go an' make anything formal around here, the folks just call me Sal. Not 'Mister', and not 'Boss.' _Sal _is just fine."

"Alright.." Dallas nodded, raising his tone almost as if it were a question.

"Pretty straight forward stuff," Sal continued, "Wash dishes, smile at the customers, clean tables, sweep floors. When you've worked long enough, y'might even learn how to work the bar. Pay check comes every two weeks. Any questions for me?"

Dallas raised an eyebrow to this. _This guy's full of it, _Dallas thought. Dallas didn't appreciate Sal's cutting-edge sense of delivery; but money was money. And if money meant helping Cherry, helping the baby, then it was gold. A golden opportunity that Dallas had finally had at his fingertips.

Dallas leaned back in his chair, "Yeah, when can I start?"

"Hey, Dal!" Johnny waved Dallas over as he began to watch him walk towards him. Johnny, Sodapop, Ponyboy and Two-Bit were talking in Ponyboy's backyard. Dallas had just got off work, which he had been attending to for about three weeks now. "What's up, guys." Dallas grunted. While Dallas greeted the gang, Ponyboy teased him jokingly, "Look who it is, Mr. Workin' boy's here."

They all laughed as Dallas lit up a cigarette. "How's it feel to finally be earnin' clean cash, Dal?" Two-Bit asked.

"It pays off," Dallas nodded, "Ay, you guys oughta' come by the Shack tomorrow, they're havin' some kind of annual gig they do there. Apparently the whole town goes to these things, free food and everythin'."

Sodapop and Two-Bit's eyes widened at the sound of _free food_.

"Oh no you're talking 'bout the Shack's Brick-house Benefit, right? Nah, Dally that ain't free." Sodapop replied.

"Aw, you don't say!" Two-Bit shuddered after getting his hopes up.

"It ain't cheap, neither." Sodapop added.

"Nah, nah. It costs money to get in but I can bring people for free. Just tell them you're with me."

The four of them cheered in response to Dallas' news. Dallas nodded, muttering, "Yeah, yeah, but just you guys, got it? I can't be responsible for bringin' the whole damn side of town to this thing."

As the gang began walking, Ponyboy asked Dallas a question.

"You aren't gonna bring Cherry, Dal?"

Dallas smiled at the mentioning of Cherry's name. He remained nervous, however. Dallas was always afraid of becoming off guard, and accidentally bringing up the news of Cherry's pregnancy. He often had to remind himself that Cherry and her family were the only one's that knew, and that it was to stay that way for as long as possible.

Finally, Dallas responded, "Nah, don't need to. Her family goes every year, they're already bringin' her."

By this time, after a few weeks had passed since Dallas had been hired, Cherry's parents had agreed to take her back into their home. Even though they had remained on horrible terms, Cherry was still their "little girl", and naturally they had begun to feel lost without her in their presence.

As Dallas explained to Ponyboy about Cherry's parents bringing her as a guest, he began to realize how much trouble he was about to be in. Dallas had still never met Cherry's parents _once, _not even after Cherry had told them that he was the father of their baby. This was going to be an awfully interesting turn out for both Dallas and Cherry.

As the gang walked out of the drive-in after seeing a movie, Johnny said, "Well, I guess I'de better get goin'. So Dal, about tomorrow? Will I see you 'round?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll be working', but I'll see ya." Johnny nodded. And with his hands in his pockets, he said, "See ya'll tomorrow," and turned to walk down the alley that led him home. Just as he began walking, he heard the faded voices of Sodapop, Ponyboy, and Two-bit, just faintly disappearing behind him. Suddenly, however, he was startled by the sound of close footsteps.

He then heard a, "Hey Johnny, man. Wait up." from a very familiar voice. He turned around to see that it was only Dallas, speeding up to catch up to him.

"You goin' home?" Dallas asked as he finally caught up, side by side. Johnny, as he continued to walk, replied with a grin, "Yeah, if that's what you'd like to call it."

Johnny may or may not have known it, but Dallas loved the kid. Johnny was Dallas' greatest pal. Something about him just made Dallas respect him so much. Perhaps it was his loyal sense of originality. Or, maybe he saw something in Johnny that reminded him of himself. Either way, Dallas loved talking to Johnny, especially one on one, like he was doing at that very moment. It almost made Dallas feel as if each word spoken out of Johnny's mouth was a rare finding; like he was discovering a little bit more about Johnny each time. It was like a father getting to know his grown son for the first time.

"Look, Johnny, I could use your help." Dallas finally stated.

The streets were silent, and the sidewalks were paved with the echoing sounds of Dallas and Johnny's footsteps, hitting and scuffing the cement.

Johnny looked puzzled, "Help? Yeah, sure Dal, whatever you need. I'm here." He seemed to be slightly surprised at Dallas' request.

Dallas took a slight pause to think as they continued walking. He thought about Johnny, contemplating on if he should speak any further on the subject. He went with his gut feeling.

"Cherry's pregnant, Johnny." Johnny took slower steps, and then continued at his steady pace. His eyes widened in awe, and he nearly choked on his own saliva. "Wha-what?" he stumbled.

Dallas just nodded, staring at the path straight ahead of him. He expected such a reaction, but he knew he could trust Johnny. Just to make sure, however, he continued while leaning over to point at him with a stern finger, "But not a word out of that damn mouth of yours, you got that? Cherry hasn't even told her friends about this-at least, I don't think."

"Wait, so are you….are you the-"

"Yeah, yeah alright? It was me, guilty. I did it. Jesus, kid, what's a'matter with you? You think I'de just let other people impregnate my girlfriend for kicks?" Dallas raised his voice.

"Sorry, I was just checkin'."

Dallas had never really thought about what would happen once the baby was actually born. It wasn't until about a day ago that he had finally realized that in about a few months, a little kid was going to be running around; a little kid that Dallas and Cherry brought into the world themselves. Not that Dallas had actually ever created a dream or a future for himself, but what exactly was to become of his future now? Would he raise the child? Would this mean that he would fall into his father's footsteps? No, that was the very last thing that Dallas had ever wanted. Dallas had hated his father from the very beginning, and he never wanted to become a hypocritical person. What kind of man would he be if he had turned into the very man he had hated for eighteen years?

Johnny and Dallas had finally approached a few yards away from Johnny's house. The night had been unusually quiet, which had surprised Johnny, considering the fact that the dark hours were usually tainted with loud noises of the fights that had constantly occurred in his home. Johnny finally turned to Dallas and spoke, "That Cherry's a sweet girl, Dal. I hope this don't mean you'll be leavin' her."

Dallas shook his head, "Nah, nah. I'm-" Dallas paused for a short moment. He glared into the street lights that blinked down street in front of him. Johnny watched Dallas, waiting for a response, as Dallas seemed to be dozing off into a frenzy of deep thought. With his hands in his pockets, Dallas walked over to the side of the curb to sit down.

"You don't mind if I keep you 'round for a bit do ya'?" he asked with a lowered voice.

"No, Dal. Not at all." Johnny walked over to sit down next to him. Johnny approached this opportunity with caution; for Dallas was never commonly known for deep conversation.

Dallas took a deep breath, and then exhaled. He began to light a cigarette, but then hesitated and threw it across the street. Something had shaken Dallas that very moment, and not even Dallas could figure out what it was that had brought him to such discouragement.

"I get these moments, Johnny," Dallas began muttering softly, almost as if he were talking to himself, "these moments when I just wanna walk away from it. And it gets-it just drives me mad, really."

Johnny had always felt slightly vulnerable when it came to having conversations with Dallas; everything was a test. You had two choices when it came for giving Dallas a clean, cut answer: Either he was looking for your _true opinion, _or he just needed someone to agree with him. Usually it always ended up being the second one, even though Dallas had never really noticed that it worked out this way.

"I'm sure everybody thinks like that at first, Dal. Cherry probably thinks the same, except-well, it'd be impossible for her to walk away from it, obviously."

Dallas lowered his eyebrows, "Ay, wise ass, you think I don't know that? That's the whole fuckin' problem! She can't walk away form this, but I can. And what the hell am I s'posed to do when this whole plan comes through?" He then continued, "A year from now, who the fuck knows, there'll be a little red-headed Dally Junior runnin' around this fucked up place" Dallas laughed to himself as he lowered his head, " What a great mix. Half Soc, half Greaser. A real trip." Dallas shook his head as he lit a new cigarette, once again.

Dallas and Johnny allowed the silence to take over for the next two minutes, before Dallas sprung up from his seat. "Okay, okay, better let you get home. You need me to pick you up tomorrow?" Dallas reached out a hand towards Johnny, who was still sitting. Johnny grabbed Dallas' arm as he pulled him up from the ground, and sighed.

Johnny replied, "Nah, no need for that. I'll catch a ride with the others, you best be gettin' to work on time, without us."

Dallas asked, "You sure? It's no trouble, besides, you're on the way."

"Nah, nah, it's cool, man. Thanks a lot though."

Dallas let out a loud grunt as he playfully locked Johnny in a headlock with his left arm, while he simultaneously messed with Johnny's hair with his right. Dallas messed with Johnny an awful lot, only because he felt like Johnny was a younger brother to him. Dallas could rarely find a genuine relationship with anyone he knew, especially like the one he had with Johnny. Or even Cherry, for that matter.

Dallas growled as he pushed Johnny away, "Alright, alright. Now scram, kid!"

Johnny laughed as he walked towards his house, "See you tomorrow!"

As Dallas walked back towards his car, which was parked a few blocks away, he began to think of what was to become of the next day. For the very first time in his life, he had actually come across a predicament in which he couldn't figure out how he would react. Dallas, having been in several uncomfortable and frightening situations in his life, had always been aware; not only aware, but prepared. No matter what was coming, Dallas was prepared. But for some reason, Dallas had felt unprepared for what he would say to Cherry's parents at the benefit. Or should he say anything at all? No, don't be ridiculous, of course he would say something. It's nearly a miracle that Cherry's parents haven't already tracked him down by now.

Whether Dallas liked it or not, his past few weeks were heavily loaded with "first's". His first love, first pregnancy (let's hope), first apology, first moment of weakness, first job, first signs of 'going soft'…the list goes on and on. The more Dallas had analyzed the situation, the more he had come closer and closer to the arrival of his conclusion: Cherry was changing Dallas' life completely.


	21. Meet the Parents

"Are you going to be okay?" Cherry had shown up at Dallas' work about an hour earlier before the benefit, just as Dallas had arrived.

She was all dressed up, as cute as can be. Her hair was red and wavy; it reminded Dallas of those beautiful, rosy-colored drapes that hung in her house. Her skin had a beautiful glow, and the essence of her smile was so subtle and serene, it could light up the whole room. She wore a navy blue and white polka-dotted blouse, which was tucked into a dark maroon skirt that hung just above her knees. She was a life-size doll.

Dallas was dressed in his assigned uniform. Although he felt slightly uncomfortable being forced to wear such an outfit, he wore a fitted white t-shirt, black pants, scuffed white sneakers, and a black apron with the words "The Shack" printed onto it. Ideally, all employees were supposed to wear a matching hat that tied the whole outfit together, but Dallas refused to wear it, no exceptions.

"I'll be fine, trust me," Dallas replied. As he began setting the surrounding tables, he continued, "I've played out the whole thing in my head at least ten times by now, I think I know what I can expect from your parents."

But the truth was, Dallas really had no idea what to expect. He only said this to reassure Cherry; she had been a nervous wreck ever since she had been back at home with her parents. Dallas had no clue what to expect from Cherry's mother and father. Were they to call him out in front of everyone? Were they going to ask him to move in? Or, worse case scenario, could they completely ban him from seeing Cherry _and _the baby altogether? Dallas had never been raised by strict parents, nor had he ever been around any friends who had strict parents.

Cherry walked over to one of the chairs at a nearby round table and sat down. She watched Dallas as he quickly set down plates and utensils for each and every table, one by one. He seemed to be very focused on what he was doing. To Cherry, she saw Dallas working hard to get the job done before the benefit had started. To Dallas, however, it was a different story. He moved quickly, making absolutely no eye contact with Cherry, only because he was nervous. Every time he took one look at Cherry, he became anxious; and Dallas was never anxious. But it wasn't so much that he was scared of Cherry's parents necessarily. It was more of the fact that this night could determine the fate of where he stands with Cherry for the rest of his life, or her life for that matter. _Look, even if they don't let me see Cherry, _Dallas thought, _it's not gonna do shit. _Dallas knew that no matter what her parents told him, he wouldn't abandon her. Thinking this to himself did calm him down, but only slightly.

Cherry got up and walked over to Dallas, who was still staring down at his hands, laying down plate after plate in the spaces in front of him. Cherry came from behind and wrapped her arms around him, linking her hands together in front of his chest. He stopped, and then continued laying down utensils, moving much slower.

"You're such a hard worker." she kissed his back, as she buried her head into him. She then spoke softly, "Dallas, don't be so tense. You'll make me more nervous." Cherry tried to laugh off the feeling of discomfort that she could feel between them. Dallas took a break from the tables as he turned around to give her a quick kiss.

"I'm not tense," Dallas said, "I just got a lot on my mind."

Cherry began to feel sick to her stomach. Not literally, but she had so much going on within her mind that she could barely hold herself together. Seeing Dallas act nervous wasn't helping it either. Here she was, trying to calm Dallas down; but why couldn't she even calm herself down? She had already dealt with the drama between her parents and herself, and now it was Dallas' turn. Perhaps she was afraid that her family would drive Dallas away. What if all the drama and responsibility that came along with the pregnancy was too much for him? _He said he would stay, _Cherry thought. But what if Dallas couldn't stay? Where would that leave her?

The next few sentences out of Dallas' mouth were certainly not about to help Cherry's fearful thoughts.

"Cherry," Dallas lowered his voice, "I need to ask you something."

"Yes?" Cherry replied.

Dallas took her hand and sat her down in the chair in front of him, as he sat next to her. Facing her, he continued, "Do you really think this'll work out?"

Cherry shook her head, "Dallas I told you not to think about this anymore. Whatever goes on with my parents tonight, it doesn't matt-"

"Nah, nah. Not that. I mean, with the kid and everythin'."

Cherry stared into Dallas' eyes, she was awfully confused. _What do you mean, _Cherry thought, _You're bringing this up now? Out of all the possible times, you choose now?_

"Dallas," Cherry responded slowly, "What do you mean?"

Dallas covered his face with his hands, rubbing his eyes upward and downward, and then grabbed one of Cherry's delicate hands. As he looked down at her soft fingers, his thumb moved back and fourth across her tiny wrist.

He continued, " Cherry, when I was a kid, I didn't have shit. My old man didn't give a shit where I was, what I wanted-he didn't even care if I were alive or dead. Still doesn't."

Cherry was not ready for a conversation like this. She couldn't tell if Dallas was blowing her off, or if he just wanted to talk about how terrible of a father he'd be. Either way, she didn't want to hear it. However, she continued to listen.

Dallas went on, "I'll give anything-and I mean _anything-_ to this kid, not only because it's mine, but because it's a part of _you_. I'de give my life to you, and anything that means the world to you. You understand that?"

"Yes, but what, I don't get it, do you _not_ want to raise this kid? Because that's what I'm getting from the first part."

"No. See, you're not listening, " he replied in an annoyed tone. Dallas got out of his chair and flung out his arms. He walked towards the stand of plates and resumed to his work, while answering back, "I need to know that you're okay with _this. _And by 'this' I mean…" Dallas opened up the palm of his hand and motioned towards the entire room of the restaurant, as if he were referring to his job, "This!" he raised his voice slightly.

"I need to know that you're okay with me makin' minimum wage eight hours a day, seven days a week. I need to know that me workin' my ass off in this shitty joint, is enough, _for the three of us. _I need to know, Cherry-_are you listening? _I need to know that you're okay with the fact that _this _is everything I'm giving you. 'Cause believe it or not, Cherry, I'd rather die than live my drunk-of-a-father's life."

Cherry stood up from her chair and paused with her mouth open, as if she were going to say something. She was unbelievably upset. Not upset; she was frustrated and confused. Overwhelmed was probably the best word suited for her at this moment. She opened her mouth once again, but this time, words came out.

"I don't need this right now." She grabbed her purse, and Dallas watched as she walked straight out of the restaurant.

_What the hell did I even just say? _Dallas immediately thought to himself. Dallas, like Cherry, also possessed quite a confused reaction from what he had just said. How could he confront Cherry about any of his thoughts, when even he himself couldn't decode what his own feelings were about the situation? "Fuck," Dallas muttered to himself. He knew should have never brought it up in the first place.

Two hours into the benefit; the band was live, the music was playing, and there were crowds and crowds among tables, eating and chatting away.

Meanwhile, Cherry was faking a smile to all who called her name at her table. Cherry sat between her mother and father as the two of them babbled on about-well, she wasn't exactly sure what they were babbling about- all she knew was that whatever it was, it involved her name, and school.

Cherry was never fond of her family's conversations; they had become so repetitive over dinner. Day after day, year after year, all she could talk about was her future plans. _How is school, Sherri dear? _they'd always ask. And let's not forget her favorite, _We have got to get together with Bob's family soon! _Cherry often used to fear that her life would become this very scene; married with children, living in a wealthy family-owned home in the suburbs, babbling away to other rich families about some cruise she just went on, or how her son had earned a scholarship, or some other junk. _It's all fluff. Fluff fluff fluff, blah blah blah, _Cherry used to always think repeatedly to herself during dinner time. When Cherry fantasized about a life with Dallas, however, it always put a smile on her face.

Dallas would come home, after a hard day's work, and spot her sitting on the couch. _I'm home, sweetheart, _he would say. He reaches over to grab her, and begins to hold and kiss her passionately. _Dinner's waiting at the table, _Cherry would say with a smile. Then, a small voice would approach the two of them from the near hallway. _Daddy! _ he yells. Dallas' grin grows ten times larger as he kneels down to hug his one and only son. _There's my boy, _Dallas smiles and pats him on the back.

"Sherri, sweetheart, your father is talking to you!" Cherry suddenly launched herself back to reality, as her mother tapped Cherry's lap with her dainty hand.

"Oh," Cherry muttered, "I'm sorry. What did you say Father?" Cherry wanted to laugh at herself for dozing off into such a cheesy daydream. At this point, however, imagination was the only thing saving Cherry from strangling herself. After sitting at the table for just over two hours now, she was surprised that she had barely survived.

"I said," her Father repeated sternly, "When can we see this _Dallas Winston _face to face?"

"Dallas? That boy! What could you _possibly_ be wanting to do with a boy like _Dallas?" _another friend of Cherry's parents laughed.

"Cherry's seemed to grow…_fond_ of him. Of course she realizes now what a mistake that boy is to our town." Cherry's mother cut in.

"No I haven't." Cherry spoke aloud. The men and women at her table had widened their eyes at this. She continued, "And I'll have you know, just because he's not a complete replica of all of you folks, doesn't mean he's a mistake."

"-Cherry that'll do." Cherry's father interrupted, before she could go any further. He continued to laugh nervously, "The child, she's been acting awfully confused. With the passing of her sweet, young friend, I'm afraid it has taken a toll on all of us."

Cherry sighed, realizing that there wasn't much more that she could do. She would rather sit back and pretend to not exist, than actually participate in what these people called 'conversations.'

"So?" her father continued while looking into Cherry's eyes. Cherry looked back with a puzzled look on her face.

"When? When can we see him?" he continued. "Dad, wouldn't you rather do this in private?" Cherry asked.

Her father laughed, "Why would I bother doing such a thing? He's a big boy right? Send him over, Sherri."

Cherry looked around to see where Dallas was. Finally, she spotted him. He was across the room, standing by a table in the far corner of the opposite side of the room. At the table sat all of Dallas' friends, and a few that Cherry couldn't recognize.

However, a strange feeling had come across Cherry when seeing Dallas' face. He looked so…happy. He looked like his old self, talking and goofing around with his friends, laughing as they watched other stuck-ups walk past their table. She began to feel the familiar sense of pain once again; the guilt pain that had rummaged through her stomach several times before.

Cherry had several occurrences in which she had felt so guilty of robbing Dallas of his life. Even though she often thought this, Cherry had always failed to realize that the pregnancy hadn't only robbed Dallas of his freedom, but it had robbed hers as well, so there was no use of feeling that Dallas was getting most of the punishment.

Cherry had begun noticing Dallas talking to a girl, who also sat at the table with his friends. She couldn't recognize her, but she had no reason to worry. Ever since the pregnancy, Cherry had never really been the jealous type.

Dallas looked around and then turned to the girl, "I should prob'ly split soon. The boss has been lookin' for me, dumb prick has been giving me shit this whole week for nothin', man."

And just like that, Sal approached just behind Dallas' chair with a loud grunt. The looks on Two-Bit and the girl's face made Dallas realize that Sal was behind him already. Dallas turned around as Sal spoke with a raspy tone, "This ain't no time to socialize, there's plenty of time for that elsewhere. You want a job, dont'cha?"

"Jesus," Dallas muttered, "Ay, I set up this god damn place. If it weren't for me, these penguins would be eating on the floor." Dallas tilted his head towards the next table, referring to the crowds of people who wore suits. This made Two-Bit nearly laugh himself off his seat.

Dallas put a hand on Sal's shoulder, "Why don't you go get yourself a drink, Sal, instead of spendin' the night talking to me."

Sal shrugged off Dallas' hand and walked off. Dallas was too much of a handful to control at times like these.

Dallas spotted Cherry walking towards his table, and he immediately knew what was coming.

"Cherry baby," he stood up, "This is Diane, I don't think you ladies met." He gestured towards the girl that he and Two-Bit were sitting next to. Diane smiled towards Cherry.

"Nice to meet you," Cherry smiled back and continued towards Dallas, "Dally, my father would…you know," she tilted her head towards their table.

Dallas sighed and nodded, "Right, look I'll see you guys in a bit."

Dallas and Cherry walked beside each other towards her mother and father's table. "You okay?" Cherry quietly asked while continuing to look straight ahead of her.

"Yeah, you?" Dallas asked. Cherry didn't answer, as they had already just arrived at the table. Cherry was completely startled and yet surprised when she immediately heard Dallas strike up the conversation,

"Mr. and Mrs. Valence, I'm Dallas." Dallas held out his hand. If Cherry weren't as nervous and uncomfortable as she was, she would have laughed at how odd and peculiar Dallas was acting. It was like he was putting on some sort of act.

Cherry's father stood up, without acknowledging Dallas' hand, and tilted his head towards the door, signaling for Dallas to follow him as he got up. Cherry looked at Dallas, and was slightly reassured by the look he gave her. For some reason, she felt almost as if it were a trusting look, like she didn't have anything to worry about. Something about Dallas was brighter, better.

Dallas tried to convince himself he wasn't nervous, which sort of worked to a certain extent. The more he pretended like this was all some sort of joke, the more he bought into it and became more comfortable with the situation. As the two of them exited the restaurant and walked around the corner, Cherry's father immediately leaned in and punched Dallas in the stomach.

"What, the _fuck, _were you thinking?" Mr. Valence exclaimed. Dallas wrapped his arms around his stomach in shock, as he hunched over with his side against the wall. He moaned in pain as he replied, "Listen, Mr. Valence,"

"-No, you listen to me you little punk. Walk away. And I mean what I say, because if I ever catch you in this city again, I swear to God-"

Mr. Valence looked as if he were almost about to cry, and yet he continued to lose control of his anger. Dallas could see his lips quiver, his eyes burning with frustration, his hands clasped into fists.

Dallas finally recovered as he stood up straight, and began to speak. "Look, I get it, alright? You're afraid of this an' that, that your daughter's probably gonna have this kid, and move out, and never talk to you again, and live on the sidewalks, and let guys take advantage of her everyday, and you'll wind up havin' to explain to your special friends why you're a failure. Is that why you're talking to me?"

"Don't be smart with me, don't even start, kid." he replied.

Dallas started getting angry, "Well you know what's funny is that you think you can talk to me like you're _my fuckin' parent_, and you're not. And another thing that's funny, is that you're standin' out here talking to me, when really we should _all be out here. _If you wanna solve this, then Cherry needs to be here. I know this can be almost impossible to believe," Dallas laughed, "but it takes two people to make this kinda' mistake. Your daughter was one of 'em. I'm not the only one at fault. So you can tell me to fuck off, move far away, and I'll never see your daughter again. But if this goes through, then I can guarantee you that Cherry will never speak to you again."

The two stood silent across from one another. Mr. Valence, in awe, watched as Dallas lit up a cigarette while glancing at the cars driving in the streets behind him. He looked so careless, to Mr. Valence, like his words were so final. As much as he wanted to blame Dallas for 100% of his family's problems, he just couldn't. Not to say that he felt that Dallas was any less at fault; he still wanted to strangle the kid. But that was exactly what troubled Mr. Valence so much, he couldn't wrap is head around the idea that Cherry was somehow responsible.

"You don't know how badly I would love to kill you right now," Mr. Valence spoke through his teeth with a lowered voice.

"Then do it." Dallas muttered.

* * *

><p>Cherry had no clue how this night would turn out. As she watched the two of them walk out of the restaurant, she felt so tense. She needed a distraction. As she looked up, she had noticed Two-Bit waving her over at their table. Cherry stood up and proceeded to walk over.<p>

"Just kill me now, will you?" she sighed as she sat down next to Diane, right across from Two-Bit.

"Aw, nah. It can't be that bad can it?" Two-Bit replied.

Cherry took a sip of whatever drink was in front of her at the table. She had not clue what it was, all she knew was that she needed it.

"Well, the worst that could have possibly happened, happened. So pretty much anything goes at this point."

Diane cut in, "I think it's beautiful."

Cherry, with a confused look across her face, gave Two-Bit a strange look. Two-Bit shrugged with a smile right back at her, as if he hadn't a clue what Diane was talking about.

Cherry finally turned to Diane with curiosity, "I'm sorry, what?"

"The baby and all. I think it's beautiful what you guys are doing. Dallas is going a long ways for you; you two must really be in love."

Cherry was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable with her tone. Looking at Diane, she seemed to be a very peculiar person.

She was beautiful, no doubt. She had long, brown hair, and it nearly reached down to her petite waist. She wore a little black dress, and had a denim jacket that draped over her entire body, almost swallowing her body whole. The only thing that would strike Cherry as strange was the way she talked. Such a soft voice, and each sentence was like its very own story. It felt like forever before she'd finally reach the end of it.

"Thank you." Cherry simply responded.

Although it made an awkward first impression, Cherry and Diane ended up talking for quite a while. Before she knew it, Cherry had realized that everyone at their table had gone other than herself and Diane, who continued to talk about Dallas as an old childhood friend.

That's who Diane was, a childhood friend of Dallas. She moved here when she was sixteen, and coincidently found out through Two-Bit that Dallas had moved here as well. She knew more about Dallas than anyone in this city, and that was what made Cherry so interested.

"It's no wonder he loves you, Cherry," Diane continued to speak, "You're so caring. Dallas never had the advantage of being around people so caring like you. I remember he'd always come over to my house, and he'd eat breakfast with my family and I. We were only like, seven, I think. And he'd always just come over. That was way back when he thought he needed a family. Now he has you."

"I bet he was the cutest little kid." Cherry smiled.

"You bet he was, now imagine what your kid's gonna end up lookin' like. Two many good looks to go around." she laughed.

Cherry laughed, she was enjoying Diane's company. Not once had she felt worried about Dallas since they had talked.

Diane looked at Cherry as she watched her sip from her straw. Diane could see the happiness in Cherry's eyes when she mentioned Dallas' name. Diane smiled and said, "Hey, Cherry."

Cherry looked back at her.

"You wanna go for a drive?"

Cherry looked puzzled and laughed, "Drive? Where?"

Diane laughed, "Anywhere! C'mon honey, when's the last time you said 'fuck it all', huh? When's the last time you actually got to go out with your friends?"

Cherry thought about this. _When was the last time I went out? _Cherry thought. _Uh, never…_She told herself.

And just like that, Cherry and Diane ran to Diane's car and floored it onto the nearest road.

* * *

><p>had moved on to his final plea, "Dallas. How much will it take for you to leave this city?" He began to take out his checkbook and pen from his jacket. Dallas just stared back at him with disgust.<p>

"Are you fucking with me? You think this is about money?"

Mr Valence continued, "Regardless of who's decision this was, Winston, I want you gone. I would rather help my own daughter raise the child than keep you around. God knows that I'd rather die than have to see your pitiful, disgusting face for the rest of my life. My wife and I aren't going to tolerate it. Now how much do you-"

Dallas began raising his voice, "I told you old man, I'm not taking any money from you."

"How. Much. Do you want." Mr. Valence said with a sharp tone.

"You can give me a million dollars if you'd like." Dallas replied.

"Jesus Christ, son. You're a greedy prick, you know that?" He began to hesitantly write, when Dallas replied, "But I'm still gonna see your daughter."

Mr. Valence put away his check book. He began to sense the feeling that this was never going to end. "This isn't a joke, boy. If you're not gone, I'm calling the police. If you think I'm joking then so be it. "

* * *

><p>Diane drove with the top down and the music blasting, as Cherry closed her eyes and sang along. This was the therapy Cherry had needed for the longest time.<p>

"Hey, I know this show we could go to. I wanted to go but my parents said I had to go with them today." Cherry said.

"Let's do it! Where to my dear? You wanna drive?"

Cherry was hesitant at first, because she had been drinking. However, she was not drunk. "Sure, why not" she laughed.

They headed west down the roadway, and Cherry had never felt so free. They each took turns singing verses from the songs on the radio, while Diane mimicked playing instruments on the dashboard of the car. At this moment Cherry realized that everything was going to be fine. Dallas was right all along. Who cared what her parents would think? Dallas and Cherry were destined to remain together. Diane said so herself.

Just as things were becoming beyond perfect, a slight obstacle managed to approach them.

"Cherry-CHERRY" Diane screamed as she spotted a car speeding towards them on their left side. It must have been either a drunk or reckless driver, because Cherry had the green light. Cherry didn't even have enough time to understand what Diane was saying before the cars collided at nearly 70 miles per hour. The speeding car continued to push Diane's car down the street, finally seizing to a halt when crashing into a side wall of a building.

After about five minutes, Diane managed to move a few inches out of her seat, saying Cherry's name over and over, waiting for a response.

"Cherry, hey Cherry. You alright?"

But she wasn't alright.

She laid with her head resting upon the wheel, hands clenched, eyes closed.

At the sound of several sirens, Diane remained frightened and still, watching Cherry sit lifeless in the driver's seat.

TO BE CONTINUED. THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING/COMMENTING!


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